Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian public have been listening to us over this week; they're listening to us argue about tax. I have a couple of things to say about the government's tax package, which they've got on the table, and compare it to the policy that Labor put on the table this week. What those opposite don't want Australians to know is that in six years time people earning $200,000 will pay the same tax rate as someone earning $40,000 under this government's plan. Our progressive tax system has been our social compact for decades. This is the week that this government are showing their true colours. They vote to privatise the ABC, then they say they won't privatise the ABC and then their members are seen on television saying, 'It's a valid debate.' The same goes for tax. They are this week dressing up wealth redistribution as aspiration. I've known since I got here that those opposite want to entrench existing inequality. We've seen it in education, and we've seen it in health. They want to entrench that. Now with this tax plan that they have on the table they're showing their true colours. We are looking at largesse for millionaires at the expense of average Australians.

I've got some figures in front of me. In contrast to the government, Labor's tax plan, which we could bring into this parliament and vote on today, would see 10 million Australians better off. There would be 10 million Australians better off under Labor's tax plan, and we could do that today. Under Labor, people on an income of $30,000 would be $900 better off than under the Liberal plan. Someone on $50,000 would be $2,358 better off a year under Labor. We need to look at where those income earners live and who they are. I've got some data here that tells me that, no surprise, in Lalor, the electorate I represent, we have 127,000 taxpayers, and 77 per cent of them will be better off under Labor. That's 98,000 people. The most interesting stat here is that in Lalor only one per cent of our workers earn over $180,000. It's not a surprise when you look down the list of communities like mine where you have one per cent earning over $180,000, but then you look at Wentworth you see that you've got 13 per cent earning over $180,000, no surprise there; North Sydney, 12 per cent; Warringah, 12 per cent; and Kooyong, 10 per cent. This is a battle all right. It's about protecting the average—(Time expired)