QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:28): Thank you to the honourable member for Kennedy for his question. I do recognise that there have been calls for income splitting in the tax system from time to time in the past. The $75,000 baby bonus is a relatively new suggestion, but we have heard the income-splitting part of it before.

In my view, in our view, there is good evidence to suggest that income splitting along the lines that he is proposing in his question would cost the budget substantially while denying the people it's designed to help the lion's share of the benefit. If you look at the Parliamentary Budget Office's costing of a similar proposal from former senator Rennick from early in 2025, it found the proposal would decrease the underlying cash balance by a bit more than $12 billion over the forward estimates and almost $70 billion over the medium term and income splitting would primarily benefit higher wealth and income couples, rather than targeting the families that need it most.

If you look at the policy brief from the Working with Women Alliance which was released in the past week, it shows that income splitting would create a tax transfer system that encourages economic dependence and reduces incentives for women's workforce participation, which would risk unwinding some of the gains that we have made as a country. This government is very alive to the pressures that people are under, and we've found other ways to help people with the cost of living, particularly Australian families: more tax cuts for Australian workers—cutting taxes five times; cheaper medicines—making it easier to see a bulk-billing doctor; backing increases to minimum and award wages; helping Australians to get a better deal at the checkout; reducing student debt; fee-free TAFE; boosting paid parental leave and paying super on it; and delivering cheaper early childhood education.

All of this is about addressing the very real pressures that people are under right around the country, including no doubt in the member for Kennedy's electorate. I hear the proposal at the core of his question. The government has decided to go down a different path when it comes to providing that cost-of-living relief that families need and deserve.