MOTIONS

Mr SMALL (Forrest—Opposition Whip) (18:51): I move: That this House: (1) notes the Opposition's plan to put Australians first by: (a) managing the budget responsibly; (b) reducing debt; and (c) making sure the Government spends within its means; (2) recognises that when government spending is out of control, everyday Australians pay the price through higher taxes, higher prices and greater pressure on family budgets; (3) further notes the Opposition's plan to place a speed limit on government spending, so that the Government does not keep spending faster than the economy can afford; (4) acknowledges the Opposition's commitment to restore the tax-to-gross domestic product cap, so that: (a) Government takes less from Australians; and (b) families, workers and small businesses can keep more of what they earn; (5) further recognises the Opposition's Tax Back Guarantee and Future Generations Fund as practical measures to help pay down debt, protect taxpayers and invest in infrastructure that benefits future generations; and (6) calls on the Government to put Australians first by: (a) easing pressure on households and small businesses; (b) strengthening the budget; and (c) making responsible decisions that protect Australia's future.

Despite the mess that we find this country in tonight, we on the coalition side believe that Australia is worth fighting for. We believe that our strong plan to fix our economy and protect our way of life is what the country needs to again ensure that our country's best days lie ahead and that tomorrow might be brighter than yesterday. While debt is now $1 trillion, with an interest bill that Australians have to pay of some $50,000 a minute—a staggering amount of money that would buy every house in Western Australia today—it's our kids that will have to pay for it if something isn't done.

That's why our plan for lower taxes, lower debt, better government and a system that puts Australians first is what the country needs. As I say, our plan is exactly that—to fix the economy and to protect our way of life and we'll step through it because ultimately it deals with the problems that this Labor government has caused for our country today. They say that there are two certainties in life, and we know what they are: death and toxic taxes from a Labor government.

We know it to be true because, every time they make an election promise on taxes, we find that they break it in office. We all remember former prime minister Julia Gillard loudly declaring on national TV, 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead,' only, on the other side of the 2010 election, to have exactly that. And of course, just recently, before the 2025 election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, 'How hard is it?

For the 50th time, no, there will be no change to the taxation arrangements around housing and investment in this country.' Well, we've subsequently discovered he's changed his position, and yet again we see a Labor government breaking a promise made solemnly before an election so it can introduce taxes afterwards. It's a tale as old as time, and somehow it's more consistent than our poor old Fremantle Dockers.

When Labor run out of money, they come after yours. It means that households in Australia are currently being made to live within ever-diminishing means, because our real standard of living is declining at a faster rate than anywhere else in the developed world. And yet, for the government, the spendathon continues.

The RBA has said that government spending was too high and directly contributing to the inflation that we see raging in the Australian economy—higher prices for everyday Australians who are already struggling with the cost of living. That's why it's so important that our plan includes measures to get spending under control. It's simply not fair to rack up a huge credit card bill and leave it to the kids to pay off.

So we'll put a speed limit on spending so that government can't grow faster than the economy. It has the added bonus of giving every Australian an automatic tax cut every year. It's not at the whim of the government of the day but an automatic tax cut worth $250 in the first year and more than $1,000 by year four, growing bigger and bigger.

We'll end Labor's corporate welfare, like the National Reconstruction Fund, hiding behind veils of secrecy. Of course, we'll end the madness of the EV tax rebate that makes a Tesla cheaper for a surgeon than a nurse. We'll bin the Net Zero Economy Authority and the Rewiring the Nation Fund.

We'll consign the failed housing bureaucracy to where it belongs, because the Housing Australia Future Fund, on the government's own numbers, will miss its target by more than 220,000 homes. We'll take the National Construction Code, which now has more than 2,000 pages telling our builders how to build houses, and slash that red tape to just 200 pages. We'll reserve future access to some 17 welfare programs and the NDIS for Australian citizens only because it is right that our citizenship is the most exclusive club in the world and that that membership should come with benefits, indeed.

We'll end Labor's assault on aspiration in the economy because we understand that it's small business that generates wealth, prosperity and jobs in this country. We'll end the inflation tax. We will see our future generations fund putting money away from our resources for our kids tomorrow.

That's our plan to fix the economy and protect our way of life. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Haines ): Is the motion seconded? Mr Kennedy: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.