Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Why don't you like hairdressers in Swan? I hear the member for Moreton having a go at hairdressers in Swan. Why don't you like hairdressers in Swan?

Mr Perrett interjecting—

Have a look at yours! A high school teacher on $75,000 in Swan—

Mr Perrett interjecting—

They always go to the man when they haven't got any substance to their argument. They always go to the man. A high school teacher on $75,000 in Swan will have an extra $530 in their pocket from the budget year onwards, with an extra $3,740 in their pocket over the first seven years of the tax plan.

Step 3 of this bill will simplify and flatten the tax system to ensure aspiration and that Australians who strive for their dreams are not disincentivised from earning more money. From the 2024-25 income year the top threshold of the 32.5 per cent tax bracket will be further increased from $120,000 to $200,000, completely removing the 37 per cent tax bracket and simplifying the personal income tax system. This means that people will stay in the same tax bracket over their working life. The top marginal rate of 45 per cent will remain, but only after their incomes reach more than $200,000. These changes will mean that around 94 per cent of taxpayers are projected to face a marginal tax rate of 32.5 per cent or less in 2024-25. This compares with a projected 63 per cent of taxpayers in 2024-25 under the current settings. Under this bill bracket creep will be practically nonexistent. True to form, the Labor Party has twisted the words and started their usual scare campaign, claiming we're only helping the rich. I thought the Prime Minister explained it well when he said:

Now under our long-term plan, when it’s fully set up, fully completed in seven years, someone earning $205,000 will make obviously five times as much as someone on $41,000 but they will pay 13 times as much tax. So they’ll earn five times as much but they’ll pay 13 times as much tax. So the idea that we are dismantling the progressive tax system is simply absurd.

It's clear the Australian people are smarter than Labor and its petty scare campaigns give them credit for being. People will be better off under our tax system. Those opposite like to denigrate the idea of thinking past an election cycle or two because they've never looked further than an election cycle. Perhaps that might mean those opposite standing by their principles and not changing their policy when the wind blows in a different direction to yesterday. To give some context, the government's tax plan means that 73 per cent of my electorate of 98,000 people will benefit from these changes. This tax plan nurtures the Australian dream, supports aspiration and will ensure those who earn more pay a fair share and do not get bumped up to a higher rate for earning just a few dollars more. I heard the member for Melbourne yesterday calling this plan a flat tax, similar to what former Speaker of the US Congress Newt Gingrich attempted to bring in during the 1990s. While the member for Melbourne has a silk tie on his neck and continues to bash his drum, funnily enough, from 1 March under the new EBA of the members he represented in the ETU A-grade class 4 electricians on service maintenance installation will actually earn more than $90,000 over a year. Are these electricians the rich the member from Melbourne wants to stoke class warfare against? It seems crazy.

This is bill is part of an approach the government is taking to ensure a stronger economy for all Australians. Those opposite seem to forget that this House doesn't create jobs or projects. It is hardworking Australians in small and medium businesses that employ people and keep this country going—and they are also the major employers of Australians. Our commitment to ensuring government gets out of the way and allows people the opportunity to forge their own path through life and to nurture individualism and aspiration will mean nothing but a greater Australia and innovation. Gone are the days of economic rationalisation from those opposite. Gone are the days of caring about the middle class and caring about Australia. We on this side of the chamber, unlike those opposite, have an incredible plan to surplus—not saying one thing to the people of Longman and another thing to the people of Fremantle. Labor say they'll tax more, spend more and come back to a surplus sooner, all while giving bigger tax cuts. It is a policy dilemma if ever I've heard one. The only thing the Australian public needs to remember is: watch what Labor do; don't listen to what they say. Those opposite said the mining tax wouldn't hurt WA, and they lied on that. They also said in 2007, when they got elected, that they'd give WA a $100 million infrastructure fund. It never happened. As I said before, watch what they do; don't listen to what they say. Those opposite, under the stewardship of the former member for Griffith and member for Lilley, would bring us to surplus and work to fix GST in Western Australia as well. They delivered nothing on the GST, not $1. Instead, they gave us the pink batts scandal and no plan for surplus.

Australians cannot trust Labor. They'll say anything to get their hands on the keys to the Lodge. I reflect on the famous 'The Forgotten People' speech by the great Sir Robert Menzies, our longest serving Prime Minister, when he spoke on the impact of taxes:

We have talked of income from savings as if it possessed a somewhat discreditable character. We have taxed it more and more heavily. We have spoken slightingly of the earning of interest at the very moment when we have advocated new pensions and social schemes. I have myself heard a minister of power and influence declare that no deprivation is suffered by a man if he still has the means to fill his stomach, clothe his body and keep a roof over his head. And yet the truth is, as I have endeavoured to show, that frugal people who strive for and obtain the margin above these materially necessary things are the whole foundation of a really active and developing national life.

I encourage those opposite to reconsider their approach to this bill. It will effectively deliver lower, fairer and simpler taxes for hardworking Australians, just as we have delivered a million jobs in the last five years.

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