Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

And it will see a bigger tax cut for 90 per cent of Australian women taxpayers, who will receive an additional average tax cut of $707. That is 5.8 million women receiving a bigger tax cut. That equates to a boost of 630,000 additional hours per week worked by women.

We know that women work hard across our economy and we want to ensure that they keep more of their hard-earned money to meet the daily challenges and cost-of-living pressures that they face. These changes are deliberately designed to ensure that those in middle Australia get to keep more of the money that they earn without, of course, adding to inflationary pressures.

Women's economic equality is a core priority for this government. The Leader of the Opposition, frankly, and the Liberals and the Nationals, have made it clear that they really do not want these tax cuts for middle Australia. When you look at their faces today, it's almost like they've been sucking on a lemon. When asked if the opposition would roll back Labor's tax cuts, we saw the Deputy Leader of the Opposition saying: 'Well, of course, that's our position. That is absolutely our position.' What have you got against 90 per cent of Australian women taxpayers getting a bigger tax cut? What is wrong with that?

We want to make sure that Australian women have every opportunity to earn money and to keep more of that money. We know that on the side of the House we have been absolutely focused on women's equality, making sure that we deliver for the women of this nation. We're working to close the gender pay gap and close those earning gaps for women in this country—something that those opposite absolutely failed to address. We will always work hard for women, and soon the Minister for Women will release a national gender equality strategy to guide these continued efforts.

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