Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

As I said, the first test is restoring Australians' standard of living. We look at the budget papers, where we can see whether or not Australians' standard of living is going to be restored under their plan, and the answer is: no time soon. They've seen an eight per cent reduction in their real disposable incomes. That's the goods and services that their incomes can buy—eight per cent down since this Treasurer took on the role. He smashed Australians' standard of living. He smashed household budgets to try and improve his budget. He's found $400 billion more to spend by taking it from Australian households, which was my earlier point about taxes.

The truth of the matter is that, when you look at the budget, there is no pathway back anytime soon to the standard of living that Australians had when we were last in power. The Reserve Bank tell us that they expect our standard of living to get back to that level in 2031. That is a lost decade. And, if you leave this bloke in the role, it will be a lot more than a decade, because he has completely failed in this budget to restore Australians' standard of living.

The second test for this budget is whether it restores the hope of Australians who are losing hope. Aspiration and hope are central to the great Australian dream. The hope and aspiration that, over time, you can buy a house, pay it off, keep it as you approach retirement and use it as the basis for a great retirement are disappearing under this government. Hope is disappearing fast. We have seen them make a commitment to build 1.2 million houses, but there's no sign of that. The experts are telling us we'll be lucky to get to 800,000. There was absolutely nothing in this budget that suggested that that great hope of owning a home is coming back anytime soon.

Of course, the other great aspiration so many Australians have is to start and build a business over time. We know on this side of the House—because, unlike those opposite, so many of us have worked in small businesses—that small businesses are the backbone of our local communities. They are absolutely at the heart of employment and prosperity, ensuring that our communities are strong and that we have rising real wages, rising real incomes and a rising standard of living—something that those opposite don't seem to have much interest in. Again, there is absolutely nothing in this budget to suggest that there is any hope being restored anytime soon for those many Australians. There are 2.5 million Australians who own a small business, and we know there are many more who would like to over time, but they are losing hope. Young Australians are giving up on that hope.

I said the third test for this budget was restoring fiscal integrity and honesty. Peter Costello put in place a series of rules back in the 1990s—

Government members interjecting—

Listen to them crow. They've got a new model of government where they just spend like drunken sailors. That's their approach. Peter Costello put the rules in place that have worked for this country for many, many years, and the first thing that this Treasurer did when he came into the role is he threw them all out. He threw them all out because he knew better. His degree in spin taught him that you don't need fiscal rules. You don't need any discipline over the bureaucracy or your colleagues—who all want to spend like drunken sailors; there's no doubt about that. He decided to throw all of those rules out, and the result of that in this budget is red ink as far as the eye can see.

Since Labor came to power, they have added over $400 billion of spending to the final budget numbers that came out when we were in government. That's $400 billion of extra spending. That's $400 billion of extra taxation and red ink as far as the eye can see. Indeed, if you add up the five deficits the Treasurer announced last night, they add up to $170 billion—that's 6,000 bucks for every Australian—being put on the credit card to save this bloke's job. Actually, it's his aspiration to have another job, I think, as well. That's what we saw.

What we saw in this budget was not just a big-spending, big-taxing Labor budget; we also saw a big Australia budget. The numbers here are totally out of control.

An opposition member: It's jaw dropping.

They are jaw-dropping—absolutely right. They are out of control. Those opposite are going to see a number approaching two million people coming into the country in just five years. Now, we are a great immigrant nation, but you've got to get the balance right. There needs to be a balance between the housing supply in this country—which has been in freefall—and our immigration rate. That has been absolutely out of whack whilst this Treasurer and those opposite have been in power. It has been a complete disaster. Every time we get a new forecast, up it goes. Up it goes. They've added 700,000 to the forecast over just a few years. And the actual outcomes are quite extraordinary: over a million people coming into this country in just two years. They've lost control.

The result of that is that GDP per capita in this country has gone backwards for seven consecutive quarters. The only thing driving this country is Australians working for more hours, and their real incomes have gone backwards. The Treasurer should actually listen to some of this because he should try to get across the economics of what's going on here and not just focus on the spin. He has absolutely no idea about how an economy works. We see, as I say, an immigration rate which is completely unsustainable under this government. And they have lost control of our borders.

Now, there is a better way. There is a better way. We know that the way forward is to beat inflation, to boost growth, to back small businesses with accelerated depreciation. Those opposite reluctantly come to this place each year and say, 'Oh, I suppose we've got to give something to small business.' But I tell you what we've done is we've said, 'No, we're going to change that.' We're going to make this a permanent part of our taxation system. It's a permanent incentive for every small business in this country to invest, create jobs, create opportunities, and create prosperity for every Australian. Those opposite will never come at that. That's lower taxes. That's lower taxes that are going to drive prosperity for every Australian.

And we know, while I'm on this topic, that the worst thing that we could do with our taxation system is to start creating a system where you tax unrealised capital gains. But this Treasurer has absolutely no idea about how wealth is created. The truth is he is quite happy to go after unrealised capital gains of smart farmers and small-business people. And you know what, Mr Speaker? That means that those capital gains are going to have to be realised; that means a farm gets sold, a small business gets sold because they have to find access to that cash.

I said we've got to beat inflation, boost growth and back small business. We've got to fix our housing supply too. That means making sure that we are breaking the infrastructure bottlenecks that we know are holding back housing supply in this country. We also know that we need to deliver affordable, reliable energy. The failure on this has been astronomical. Those opposite promised a $275 reduction. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy promised a $275 reduction. The Treasurer was asked about this the other day, and he couldn't name the number; he couldn't do it. It was like an episode out of Fawlty Towers. Don't mention $275. Don't mention $275, because the truth of the matter is they have absolutely failed on one of their core promises from before the last election.

I know in my electorate and the electorate of the minister for energy Australians are paying $1,300 more than was promised by Labor. This is an absolute disaster, and we know putting more supply into the system is always going to be the answer. A renewables-only strategy is never going to work, but that is the path those opposite are on, and it has been a complete disaster for our country. Australians cannot afford another three years of Labor. Australians are poorer after three years of Labor, and 70c a day in over a years' time is going to do absolutely nothing to change that.

See this speech in context