MATTERS OF URGENCY
Senator DOWLING (Tasmania) (16:04): There are two facts that Senator Cash hopes this motion will obscure. Firstly, the government is already addressing the precise issue she describes. Secondly, her coalition went to the last election promising to increase income tax for every Australian taxpayer.
Let's begin with the substance. On 25 June, the government committed in this Senate to address property transfers arising from inheritance or relationship breakdowns. On 4 August, Treasury released the detailed exposure draft, and consultation remains open until 21 August.
It preserves the existing negative gearing treatment when a property owned on budget night passes to a surviving spouse or co-owner or is transferred following a relationship breakdown. These changes do not operate until 1 July 2027. Under the government's published design, no new tax is triggered simply because someone is widowed, separates or escapes a violent relationship.
The draft confirms that the property's grandfathered treatment follows the relevant transfer. So Senator Cash is demanding that we axe a penalty we have already published a legislative fix to prevent almost a year before the rules even begin. Only last week, the shadow treasurer asked whether the government would allow 'more than two days of consultation'.
Today, Senator Cash wants us to stop consulting altogether and axe the reform. For the coalition, consultation is apparently vital, right up until the government actually consults. But let's step back and just wonder why these broader reforms are actually necessary.
Since 1999, house prices have risen more than twice as fast as average full-time earnings. Between 2001 and 2021, homeownership among households aged 25 to 34 fell by seven percentage points. Our reforms keep negative gearing for new builds, grandfathers existing properties held on budget night and directs incentives towards additional housing supply.
It's expected to enable another 75,000 Australians to own a home over the next decade. More than 13 million workers will also receive a tax offset of up to $250, and, separately, 6.2 million workers will benefit from the standard deduction, saving an average $205, with more than half of those being women. So these are reforms that reward work, support new housing and give younger Australians a fairer chance.
Contrast that to the coalition's tax record. At the last election, Labor had legislated further tax cuts for around 14 million taxpayers. The coalition voted against them and then lodged election policy with the independent PBO to repeal them.
The coalition's own costed election policy would have increased the lowest income tax rate from 14 per cent to 16 per cent, hitting some of the lowest paid Australians and costing them up to $536 more every year. Taxing the lowest income Australians was their stated official policy. By the way, there were no exemptions for widows, divorcees or victims-survivors of domestic violence.
They were captured; they were going to cop a tax increase along with every other Australian. If they earned taxable income, the coalition planned to make them pay more. That's not an allegation.
It's their own costed election policy. Senator Cash invokes victims-survivors. This government's commitment is measured in action.
More than $4.4 billion has been invested since 2022 to deliver the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. People facing bereavement, separation or violence deserve protection. They should not be deployed as political cover for preserving a tax concession.
The specific issue is being addressed. The broader reform makes housing fairer, supports new supply and cuts taxes on work. Labor will protect affected Australians and get the details right.
The coalition wants to protect the status quo and erase its own record in proposing higher taxes for every taxpayer. That is the real contrast before the Senate, and I oppose this motion.