Treasury Laws Amendment (Removing the Widows and Spouses Tax) Bill 2026
Senator DAVID POCOCK (Australian Capital Territory—Independent ACT Whip) (11:47): I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill. Leave granted.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speech read as follows— Monday marked 90 days since Labor's bin fire of a Budget.
A Budget full of toxic taxes. Taxes on housing, on savings, on trusts. Taxes on shares, on crypto, on every asset class.
Taxes on aspirational young Australians trying to build a nest egg. Taxes on small and family businesses. Taxes on farmers and charities.
And the cruellest taxes of them all: A wicked tax on widows and divorcees. What type of government thinks it's acceptable to whack a tax on Australians who are grieving the loss of a spouse or a partner? What type of government sees dollar signs when looking at someone who's gone through a traumatic break-up?
What type of government is so desperate for money that it goes after Australians who are the victims of family and domestic violence? I'll tell you what type of government: A government that's lost its moral compass. A government so heartless that it goes after Australians who are heartbroken and hurt.
The justifiable public backlash to Labor's Budget is of a magnitude unlike any we have seen. Australians are rightly calling it the worst Budget in living memory. Labor's Budget has blown up in their faces.
And don't they know it. That's why they proposed carve-outs. That's why the Treasurer wanted extraordinary powers to make captain's calls.
That's why when the Treasurer appeared on the ABC's Insiders program and was asked about his widow tax, he said he would "fix" it. Well, more than 40 days have passed since the Treasurer made that promise. And where's the legislation?
There's none to be seen. Instead, the Government is doing a two-week consultation period before it brings forward any legislation. Lazy Labor is doing the consultation now that it should have done before the Budget.
And all this procrastination and delay mean one thing: The Government won't "fix" its cruel widow tax until as late as September—or even October. In the meantime, widows, divorcees, and victims of family and domestic violence will be hit by Labor's toxic taxes. We've already seen the ramifications of this tax.
News.com.au recently reported on the effects of the widow tax on a 44-year-old domestic abuse victim. The woman couldn't refinance an investment property she co-owned with her ex-partner because of Labor's negative gearing changes. And that means she could lose a retirement asset she's spent more than 15 years building.
The widow's tax is unacceptable. We're not going to let Labor get away with it. We're not going to let this Government's incompetence and inaction injure Australians one moment longer.
We want the widow tax gone. We're putting forward a Bill to repeal Labor's widow tax. If the Government is serious about fixing the problem it has created, it should welcome our Bill today.
The widow tax can be scrapped in this sitting period. And there's no reason this mean-spirited tax shouldn't be scrapped in this sitting period. Labor failed a simple test when the Parliament last sat.
They had the chance to fix their unfair widow tax. They had the chance to protect people who have already been through some of the hardest moments in life. They had the chance to stand up for widows, divorcees and families trying to keep what they have worked for.
Instead, Labor voted to increase their taxes. That tells Australians everything they need to know about this lying and incompetent government. They say one thing before an election and do another in Parliament.
They talk about fairness, but they keep coming after people who have worked hard, saved, invested, built a business, bought a home, or planned for their family's future. Labor's toxic taxes hit Australians trying to get ahead, including widows and divorcees who should not be punished because life has already dealt them a tough hand. Labor's toxic tax changes are a dog's breakfast.
They're desperately papering over a long list of errors, backflips and failures. If the Government can't even produce a simple example explaining how its own tax changes work, what chance do ordinary Australians have of understanding them? This latest Treasury error shows these toxic taxes were rushed through Parliament without proper consultation or scrutiny.
Australians are being asked to live under laws the Government itself can't explain properly. Every week there's another mistake, another carve out or another unintended consequence. That's what happens when you rush through the biggest tax changes in a generation.
The Government keeps trying to patch up a broken policy. These toxic taxes don't need another amendment. They need an axe.
Labor says these taxes will make life simpler and fairer, yet taxpayers are being told they'll need new calculators, new software and new guidance just to work out what they owe. The Coalition has been clear from the start. The only real solution is to scrap Labor's toxic taxes and get back to a tax system that rewards aspiration, backs investment and helps grow the economy.
Labor's record more broadly Since Labor was elected, Australia has had the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. Labor's record spending means the budget is now forecast to be in deficit for a decade and debt is about to pass $1 trillion. Labor's toxic taxes are an assault on aspiration.
It is locking young Australians out of opportunities afforded to older Australians, by whacking toxic taxes on housing, savings, investment and small businesses. Because Labor can't manage money, they're coming after yours. Senator DAVID POCOCK: I seek leave to continue my remarks.
Leave granted; debate adjourned.