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

I thank very much the member for Hunter for his question. As a regional Australian, he knows just how important these tax cuts are for those of us who live in the regions. In fact, as the Treasurer just mentioned, 90 per cent of regional taxpayers will be getting a bigger tax cut under the Albanese Labor government's tax plan. That is a very good thing.

On 1 July we will be delivering a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer to help with the cost of living, and this will significantly benefit those who live in the regions. In fact, in the Hunter, 73,000 taxpayers will receive an average tax cut of over $1,500.

My colleagues and I who live in the regions—we love them—and in remote Australia have been listening to what our communities have been telling us about the cost of living, and we recognise that people are doing it tough. But we're responding to that pressure by delivering a bigger tax cut for middle Australia to help Australians with that cost-of-living pressure, here and now.

Our approach will overwhelmingly support those in the regions. Under this government, with our tax plan, regional Australians will keep more of what they earn. Eighty-six per cent of taxpayers in western New South Wales and the Hunter will get a bigger tax cut under Labor's plan starting on 1 July. Eighty-seven per cent of taxpayers in Far North Queensland and regional Victoria will get a bigger tax cut under Labor's plan. The person on an average income of $73,000 will get a tax cut of $1,504—$804 more than they would have been going to receive under the Liberal Party's and the National Party's plan.

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