MOTIONS
Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (18:24): The member for Grey reckons that it's important to be fair dinkum and to front up. Well, fair dinkum, who was the highest taxing government in history? It was a coalition government.
Fair dinkum, who was the highest spending government in the history of this country? It was a coalition government. And who, out of the two major parties in this country, voted against tax cuts?
Once again, it was a coalition government. All of the alliteration, all of the rhetoric and all of the talk cannot muster up real change for people in this country who are doing it tough right now. We know that.
People are struggling to pay their bills. They're struggling to put petrol in the tank. They're struggling to buy groceries at the checkout.
What people need right now more than ever is practical change. They need real change. They need change that means something to their hip pocket.
When we talk about Labor's tax record, one thing is really clear. It's the principles that underpin it and the practical reform that makes it real for everyday Australians. What does that look like?
It looks like more tax cuts for everyday Australians—not one, not two, not three, not four but five of them. It looks like a fair go for first home buyers, for people who have felt like they've been locked out of the market. We've had four decades of not building enough supply.
What they need now is a shot in the arm to be able to realise that great Australian dream once again and better aligning the treatment of work with income earned in other ways. If you're working as a sparky, if you're working as a nurse, if you're working as a teacher, if you're working in aged care or if you're working as a chippy, you should not be taxed higher than someone earning their money through the holding of assets.
When we talk about practical reform—tangible operational things that actually make a difference—we're talking around those tax cuts for everyday taxpayers, including 86,059 of them from my electorate on Brisbane's south side in Moreton. We're talking about a $1,000 instant tax deduction, saving people from rummaging through shoe boxes, so that they can have a tax deduction that's guaranteed.
We're talking about making superannuation fairer, boosting the LISTO, expanding it to paid parental leave and making sure that women can access it. We're talking about supporting 75,000 more Australians into the housing market. And we're talking about delivering over $3.8 billion in new measures that lower taxes for businesses and for start-ups.
One thing that is clear is that the coalition's tax plan can't be taken from what they say. It's got to be taken from what they do. And what they do in this place and what they are so very good at in the chamber right downstairs is voting against tax cuts for all Australians.
On 1 July, over 14 million Australians got another tax cut, no thanks to those sitting opposite. My electorate office is in the heart of my community. If you took a rock and you threw it as far as you possibly could and you drew a circle around it, what you'd find inside that circle is many small businesses—hospitality, manufacturing and retail.
It's why we've extended the active asset 50 per cent CGT concession to all small businesses with up to $10 million in turnover. It's why we're keeping other existing CGT concessions, which means eligible small businesses will pay reduced or no capital gains tax when it comes to sell. And it's why we're delivering $3.8 billion in new business tax relief measures, making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent and the two-year loss carry back and loss refundability.
These measures mean better outcomes and lower tax for Australians. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Haines ): The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.