Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, for one, am very proud of the changes that the Labor government is making to the stage 3 tax cuts, because we in the Labor Party have always stood for a progressive tax system—a principle that says, the more you earn in this country, the more tax you pay. It means that people who are fortunate to earn higher incomes put more money back into the services and the society that we all fundamentally believe in and that we all are in this place to be custodians of and to improve.

What we saw under the former government was a set of tax cuts that were going to significantly assist people on higher incomes but were going to do nothing for those people on lower and middle incomes. In the Labor Party, we are always—and always have been and always will be—here to represent and to give voice to Australian workers who are on modest and medium incomes. They are the people who build this country. They are the people who work in our hospitals, in our supermarkets and in our schools. They are the young professionals right across Macnamara who deserve some financial support right now.

So I am very proud that, when Australians—especially those people in my electorate—are going through some genuinely difficult cost-of-living pressures, this government is going to do what's right, what's fairer and what will meaningfully make a difference to people's lives. In Caulfield, we have many families who are struggling with the cost of living. Southbank and St Kilda are filled with young professionals. I think of all of the creative workers in my electorate who are doing it really tough right now and whose rent has gone up. I have had hundreds of conversations with people in my electorate. They talk to me about the rising cost-of-living pressures and what it means every time they go to the supermarket to buy food for their household. It puts real pressure on their daily budgets and on their weekly budgets.

So, when you look at the stage 3 tax cuts that we are going to bring in, that the Treasurer has already introduced and that, hopefully, will pass through this parliament, what they will mean, for people on modest and medium incomes, is that they, too, will get tax relief on 1 July.

But, under the plan left by Scott Morrison and the coalition, thousands of people in my electorate were going to miss out. Now 95,000 people in Macnamara are going to get a tax cut on 1 July. Each and every one of those 95,000 people in Macnamara deserves a little bit more money in their pocket, because each and every one of the people that I am privileged to represent is hard working and dedicated, whether they're working in the arts, as young professionals, in our hospitals—in an incredible hospital like the Alfred—in our schools or in our incredible, world-class hospitality restaurants and venues in Macnamara. Wherever people are working, their work is important, their work is valued and they should be able to keep more of what they earn. They should be able to use these tax cuts to get a bit of a buffer on some of the cost-of-living pressures that they are facing.

To the lower income earners in Macnamara, you're going to get a tax cut. To the medium-income earners in Macnamara, you're going to get a tax cut. To even the higher income earners, you too are going to get a tax cut. In fact, the higher income earners are going to get, proportionately, a larger tax cut than some of the other workers but not as much as what would have occurred under the previous government. This means that every single Australian taxpayer can get a tax cut. That, I think, is something that's really important: that we, on this side of the House, stand with those low- and middle-income earners.

The other point I wanted to make about tax is that I'm also proud of the broad range of taxes that we have addressed and have reformed thus far, in the first year of the Albanese government. When you look at the tax reform that the Treasurer and the finance minister have led—along with, of course, the Prime Minister—we're looking at tax changes to the PRRT and tax changes to superannuation funds. Electric vehicle tax reforms are making it cheaper to import and purchase electric vehicles.

Obviously, these tax cuts that we've been talking about will go to every single Australian taxpayer, to support them in their cost-of-living pressures. But there is also tax reform around making it harder for multinationals to avoid tax in our country. That is an important suite of reforms that I am proud of—they are Labor tax reforms, reforms that are all about ensuring that the Australian government can put more into the services that the Australian people rely on. They are taxes that are fairer, that are progressive and that go to that old principle that, if you earn more, you put back into our great country. I'm proud of the tax reform we've already done, I'm proud of the stage 3 tax reforms and I'm proud that more Australian workers in my electorate will get more of their take-home pay. (Time expired)

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