Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Bill 2026

Senator CASH (Western Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (09:02): What an absolutely extraordinary capitulation by the Albanese government. After all the denials that we have heard from those opposite, after all of the excuses and after all of the arrogance, they are now voting to repeal the widows tax, which they said did not exist. Anthony Albanese has finally been dragged kicking and screaming to the position the coalition has been arguing for from the very, very beginning, before, in fact, this legislation was even rammed through the parliament by the Australian Labor Party with—don't you worry—the tail wagging the dog, the Australian Greens, who were salivating as it went through.

We were telling the government, 'Get rid of Labor's widows tax.' The Prime Minister was specifically told, prior to the legislation being rushed through, that this toxic tax package would impose a tax on widows, would impose a tax on divorcees and, shamefully, would impose a tax on those fleeing a violent relationship. But do you know what the Prime Minister of Australia did?

Do you know what the Minister for Women did? Do you know what every single person in the Albanese government did? They voted to impose this tax.

They legislated a tax on widows, they legislated a tax on divorcees and, shamefully, as I said, they legislated a tax on those fleeing a violent relationship. The Prime Minister of Australia legislated a tax change that punishes Australians at one of the most difficult periods of their lives. That's what he did—he taxed them.

Worse, what did Prime Minister do as this legislation was rushed through and real life examples came forward and he and his government were finally exposed? What did the women on the front bench of Labor do when this tax was finally exposed and when they were questioned on this tax and the impact it was having in particular on women in Australia? Did they say, 'We got it wrong; we need to fix it'?

Did they admit they made a mistake? No. They are on the Hansard record time and time again denying that there was a problem.

When they worked out it was actually true and they should have listened to the coalition when they raised these concerns, they tried to minimise the problem. When real life examples came forward of the impact of Labor's tax on them at this most difficult time in their lives, do you know what they then tried to do? They tried to explain the problem away.

I think they were hoping that Australians would just not see through a tax on widows. Seriously, what a disgrace! What type of government is it that stands up and says, 'We champion women in Australia,' then knowingly votes for a tax on widows?

What is worse—because again, history records this. The coalition introduced a bill and said to Labor: 'We will actually get rid of the tax you have imposed on widows. This is your opportunity to work with us to fix what you have done.' Do you know what Labor did?

They voted against us. Let that sink in. On 29 June of this year, the coalition moved amendments to remove Labor's widows tax.

Labor could have said then: 'We made a mistake. Taxing widows is wrong.' But, instead of fixing their mistake then and there and ensuring that particularly women in Australia were not subject to this distress at one of the most horrific times in their lives, Labor said no. Worse are the Australian Greens.

They almost sicken me when they stand up and say that they're champions of women. What a joke! They were salivating as the widows tax passed the parliament.

So I'd say to the Australian people don't listen to the rewriting of history that those opposite will try and do today, because it is there in black and white on the Hansard record. Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, and every single Labor person in this place, including the Labor senators on the frontbench, were told that you were legislating a widows tax.

You looked Australians in the eye and you said that you didn't care. You rushed this legislation through the parliament knowing the impact that it would have on some of the most vulnerable people in this country. You then denied there was a problem, and, worse, you sought to minimise it.

Then, when presented with an opportunity done in good faith by the coalition to abolish this toxic, shameful tax, you didn't take it up. You didn't vote for it, and now here we are today. Why?

Because the Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, wasn't going to let you get away with that. He wasn't going to let you get away with knowingly legislating a tax on some of the most vulnerable people in this country, and, on behalf of Australians, he stood up to the Prime Minister. He called the Prime Minister out, and he told him he was wrong.

As I said, you now have a capitulation and not one that the Prime Minister wanted to do. Let's make this very clear. The Labor Party have been dragged kicking and screaming to this position today, and they're going to stand up and tell you: 'We were consulting.

We had to understand the impact of our tax. We knew that we would have to bring in amendment legislation to actually fix up some of the messes we created.' That's not good enough, because guess what? There was little to no consultation on what they are proud to say is a major reform to the taxation system in this country.

So spare us your words when you stand up here today to say that you had to consult to get it right. You knew there was a problem. We told you there was a problem.

We said we'd work with you to fix your problem. We even introduced a bill to do just that, and you laughed in the faces of Australians, particularly the widows, and you basically told them you didn't care. But sadly, as Australians have come to know, that's the nature of the character of this prime minister.

It's been on display now in relation to the podcast he did, in relation to the disgusting, crude comments he made about the female prime minister of Japan. It's on display with the Labor women standing up and saying, 'We'll defend our prime minister's crude and disgusting comments every step of the way.' It's amplified with Labor women voting knowingly to tax widows in this country and then standing up and saying, 'Don't look here, because really we actually champion the causes of women, except when it comes to knowingly legislating a tax on widows.' You're capitulating today, and I have to say I welcome the capitulation.

Welcome aboard, Prime Minister. It took you long enough, but the coalition has been clear. This tax should never have existed.

Once its consequences became clear to the Prime Minister of Australia, you should have actually eaten a little bit of humble pie, and you should have come forward immediately and brought in the legislation to actually change it. But that is the pattern of behaviour Australians now see—deny, deflect, delay. And then, when none of that works, you get dragged kicking and screaming to what a solution is, but only when it's proposed by the coalition.

Imagine the impact of this tax on people—people who have saved hard their whole lives. They've paid their taxes. They've saved.

They may have bought an investment property, not because they're rich. They're just average Australians. They bought the investment property to provide some security in retirement.

They have done exactly what governments tell them to do—work hard, save, and try and provide for yourselves in your retirement. And then tragedy happens. One partner dies.

The surviving husband or wife is grieving. Their life has been turned upside down. And, because ownership of that property changes, the widows tax, knowingly legislated by the Prime Minister and all of the Labor women, potentially now changes the tax treatment of that asset.

That's why it's known as the widows tax. That is the problem that Labor knowingly legislated. So Labor can't stand here today and now say, 'There was never really a problem,' because if there's no widows tax, as you kept on telling us, what exactly are you now repealing today?

If there's nothing wrong with your legislation, why are you changing it? The coalition is supposedly playing politics. Why have the Treasurer and the Prime Minister now adopted the coalition's position?

That's because the answer is obvious. Labor got caught. They rushed through their massive tax changes with little to no consultation.

They clearly had no clue about the actual real-life impact on the ground of some of the most vulnerable people in Australia. Even when the impact was raised directly with them, they basically looked Australians in the eye and said: 'We actually don't care. We're going to legislate anyway.' And that is exactly what they did.

They rushed through a massive tax change. They didn't understand the consequences, but worse still—and this is where it's so shameful—they didn't listen when those consequences were identified. They rushed them through instead.

This is what happens when a prime minister attacks aspiration. This is what happens when a prime minister attacks Australians just trying to build financial security. This is what happens when a prime minister knowingly misleads Australians—he gaslights them—over 50 times prior to an election.

At that press conference a journalist said, 'Will you rule out changes to negative gearing and capital gains?' and the Prime Minister—it's there for all to see—snaps at the journalist and, in his own words, says, 'For the 50th time.' Well, for the 50th time, Prime Minister, it's not good enough. It's not good enough that you gaslighted Australians. It's not good enough that you say, 'Well, actually, now that we've consulted.' Now that you've had real-life Australians that have been impacted by your changes at the most vulnerable time in their lives come forward, suddenly you've woken up.

You made a mistake. That is just not good enough. The coalition's position has been very simple from the beginning.

This was hurting Australians. You needed to axe it. The legislation had unfair consequences.

You should never have passed it. You knew it had unfair consequences and you refused to fix it. So I have to say I welcome the capitulation by the Prime Minister today.

It doesn't go nearly far enough, quite frankly. Our commitment to the Australian people—we'll take this all the way to the election, and if we're elected, we'll implement it—is that we are going to axe all of Labor's toxic taxes because we believe in aspiration. We believe in the Australian people.

We believe in you getting out there and doing what you can every day to actually have a fair go and perhaps build some wealth to plan properly for your retirement. Sadly, that's not Anthony Albanese's record. Anthony Albanese's record as the Prime Minister of Australia and Labor's record—they'll stand up shortly to try and defend their actions—is that they legislated a widows tax.

That's on you and the Australian Greens. That's on you. You legislated a widows tax.

You knowingly legislated pain on the Australian people. A widow should never have to worry that Canberra is waiting with a tax consequence when their husband dies or when their wife dies. Yes, we welcome the humiliating capitulation by Anthony Albanese today after all the denials, all the excuses, all the arrogance, and after knowingly taxing the most vulnerable Australians at the most terrible time of their life.

Even if today the vote will go through, that's something you will need to live with.