Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

They are ours. We have delivered two and this will be the third. We are proud that we are delivering these tax cuts because we do understand what life is like for people on low and middle incomes and for people on fixed incomes. We have been focused on that from day one. We have been focused on it in terms of child care with substantial increases there. We are focused on what life is like for people on low and modest and middle incomes when it comes to paid parental leave. Of course, that is why the third round of tax cuts, which are going to be delivered next Thursday, are so important and why the government is so committed.

For a worker earning $50,000 a year, the tax cut starting on 1 July this year is worth $450 a year. We understand that that is not a lot of money, but it will help make ends meet. It is very important to give this extra help that can make a difference in terms of tight family budgets. This means someone earning $50,000 a year is now paying $1,750 less in tax than they were when the government came to office. That has been a very substantial cut to their tax bill in the period that the Rudd government has been in power of almost 20 per cent.

What we are doing is putting more incentive into the system for the people who work hard, and that is important. It has also been accompanied by a range of other measures in terms of child care, the education tax rebate, paid parental leave and, of course, as I mentioned before, the very substantial measures that have been put in place to support employment and to keep people in jobs. We are proud of the support that we are providing to people on low and middle incomes, because it is support that they have earned, it is support that they deserve and it is support which will help them in the long run meet the costs of living, but, more importantly, it will strengthen our economy because it rewards Australians who work hard to make our country great.

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