Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to get a question about the cost of living. You know it will be from this side of the House. I thank the member for Holt. We are giving a tax cut to some 13.6 million Australian taxpayers—every Australian taxpayer, not just some. The Leader of the Opposition and the opposition first said that they'd oppose it, then they said they'd roll it back, then they wanted an election on it. Then they rolled over and voted for it! But now it's before the Senate, and they're talking it out there, trying to delay a vote in the Senate. But the fact is that this is good policy, which is why they knew they had no choice, eventually. But they still continue to argue against it and still complain about it whilst they didn't vote against it. We know that, at the first opportunity, this is the sort of policy that they would roll back, because, in a moment of honesty, they said that was their position.

We want Australians to earn more, and last week we learnt that real wages in 2023 increased much earlier than what the Treasury estimates were. Our objective of people earning more and keeping more of what they earn is being met. Of course, we know those opposite want people to work longer, and they want people to work for less. These tax cuts will make a significant difference. A shop assistant on $32,000 will get a $414 tax cut. A nurse on $76,000 will get a tax cut of $1,579. A teacher on $80,000 will get $1,679. A police officer on $110,000 will benefit to the tune of $2,429. Our tax cuts are aimed directly at Middle Australia, because we know that is the right thing to do. Those opposite, of course, can change what they say, but they'll never change what they stand for. They can change how they vote, but they'll never change who they are, sneering and looking down on people, thinking that people earning under $45,000 a year are not worthy of a tax cut. They're not worrying about average workers; they're just worrying about themselves.

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