MOTIONS

Mr WILLCOX (Dawson) (18:09): Labor have mastered the politics of giving with one hand while taking more with the other—a small offset for workers while changing the tax rules on investment. Labor want Australians to thank them for what they receive without counting what they lose. Labor announce a tax cut then allow bracket creep to take more from your next pay rise.

This Labor government wants Australians to be thankful for the handouts while ignoring the rising costs coming out of their pockets, but Australians are not fooled. Families are paying more for groceries, more for electricity, more for insurance and more for rents and mortgages, all because the Albanese Labor government cannot stop spending. Its spending puts pressure on inflation.

Inflation pushes prices up. Then the same inflation pushes workers into a higher tax bracket. Labor's business model is simple: spend, inflate, tax and repeat.

This is a vicious cycle Australians are caught up in, and there is something particularly unfair about what's happening to workers. Think about families like Jason's, from Mackay. Jason is a truck driver.

His work keeps him away from home for long stretches, which means his wife stays home to look after their three children. Two-thirds of Jason's income goes straight to rent. That doesn't leave much to pay for other essentials.

For a family living on one income, there is simply nothing left to spare. There's nothing extravagant about this family. They're working hard, doing their best and asking for nothing more than a chance to get ahead.

Yet, under this government, every dollar has to stretch further while Labor keeps taking more. This is what the cost-of-living crisis looks like around the kitchen table for many people across regional Australia. A pay rise should be a celebration—recognition that your hard work is paying off and you can get ahead.

But, when the pay rise is simply swallowed up by rising costs of groceries, electricity, insurance and mortgages, Australians are not getting ahead. Aussies are working harder for more dollars, but those dollars are buying less. Yet Labor's tax system treats that higher income as if these people are wealthy.

You pay more tax by moving into a higher tax bracket. The government collects more revenue despite you having less in your bank account at the end of the week, and that is bracket creep. When inflation is what pushes you into a higher tax bracket, it becomes an inflation tax.

The coalition believes Australians should not be punished for earning more just because the value of their money has been eroded by inflation. Our tax-back guarantee would index income tax thresholds to inflation, protecting 85 per cent of all taxpayers from bracket creep from the 2028-29 financial year and every taxpayer from the 2031-32 financial year. But this is not just about what happens to workers on payday.

It's about whether Australia remains a country where people can work, save, invest and build something of their own. Labor's higher tax agenda reaches into housing, savings, startups, trusts and family businesses. That means that government is not simply taxing today's income.

Labor is taxing Australians' future. Labor is making it harder to build tomorrow's opportunity. The coalition is the party of aspiration.

That is why the coalition would make the $50,000 instant asset write-off permanent for businesses with a turnover under $10 million, expand capital gains tax concessions and consult on a new small-business act. We want to see small-business owners buy new equipment. We want to see business owners hiring more employees.

We want to see them grow their business. We believe that those taking the risks should be rewarded, not buried under another layer of tax and red tape. The choice could not be clearer.

Labor seem to believe every extra dollar Australians earn is another tax dollar they can take. We believe the reward for putting the effort in should belong to the person who earned it.