Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

support the call that has been made by this Prime Minister and this government in respect of tax, If it were different, they would be opposing the legislation in this parliament and they would be doing what the Deputy Leader of the Opposition said they should do: roll this package back. The claim by those opposite that the Liberals are the party of lower taxes—that is not a tax policy; that is now just a pathetic whimper. The truth is that it's not even true. In modern times, the highest-taxing government in Australia has been the Howard Liberal government. The reality today is that the modern Liberal Party is the party of higher taxes, deep deficits and big debt.

We understand that Australians are doing it tough with cost-of-living pressures. The only government which is delivering meaningful tax relief, which has delivered a budget surplus, which is ensuring our national security, is the Albanese Labor government.

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