Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

John Howard described the family as the stabilising and cohering unit of our society. He devoted so much of his government's energy into supporting Australian families to be resilient. His strength in supporting families helped to shape my commitment to serving my area and the families that live within the leafy western suburbs of Brisbane. I spoke about it a fair bit in my maiden speech in this place. I continue to devote much of my time to supporting the over 39,000 families of the Ryan electorate. It is with this in mind that I rise today to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020 and the related bill, to continue to outline what the government is doing to support hardworking Australian families that are pushing this country forward.

Through the government's sensible, economic management, we are able to give back to those hardworking Australian families. We are working, as a government, together to deliver more jobs. We're backing small business; building infrastructure; lowering energy costs; funding record investments in schools and hospitals; providing for more accessible and affordable child care; greater flexibility when it comes to paid parental leave; and increasing measures to help keep our kids safe online.

As I said, I'd like to take the opportunity to speak about a few of these investments today and the positive impact they are having on Australian families and the families of the Ryan electorate. I mentioned before that Australian families are working incredibly hard, and we want them to be rewarded for that hard work. We want them to keep more of what they earn so that they can set their own spending priorities for their own families. So we're making income taxes lower, fairer and simpler.

From 2018-19, around 4.5 million Australians have been receiving tax relief of $1,080 per year. That is up from $2,160 for a dual-income family. Overall, 10 million taxpayers are benefiting from lower taxes because of this government and its strong economic management. By the time our full tax relief plan is implemented, 94 per cent of taxpayers will pay no more than 30c in the dollar. In my electorate of Ryan, this means that 72,083 taxpayers will benefit from tax relief as a result of this government's enhanced personal income tax plan with 26,102 receiving the full tax offset. Because, unlike Labor, who when they run out of money come after yours, we want to give Australians the chance to keep more of what they earn and set their own spending priorities.

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