Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The need for the Senate to reaffirm its commitment to the Coalition's Personal Income Tax Plan that upon full implementation will mean around 95 per cent of taxpayers are expected to face a marginal tax rate of no more than 30 per cent, which Australians need now more than ever thanks to faster bracket creep and greater pressures under Labor's cost of living crisis.

We hear a lot of debate in this chamber around stage 3 tax cuts, but it is important to understand exactly what this means, because these tax cuts have to be understood in the context of the other two stages that preceded them. The former coalition government passed the personal income tax plan to deliver lower, simpler and fairer taxes for working Australians. These are legislated tax cuts. They are reflected not only in the coalition's budgets but also in Labor's pre-election costings and in the October budget last year.

The final stage of the personal income tax plan will commence in to 2024, on 1 July. At that time, the 37 per cent tax bracket will be abolished entirely, and the 32.5 per cent tax rate will be reduced to 30 per cent. Once fully implemented, this means that 95 per cent of Australian taxpayers are expected to face a marginal tax rate of no more than 30 per cent. This is a significant reform. It's been such a long time coming: lower, simpler, fairer taxes.

Under the Personal Income Tax Plan, an apprentice on $60,000 would pay $1,455 less in tax every year from 1 July 2024, whereas an experienced tradie on, say, $80,000 would pay $1,955 less tax every year from 1 July 2024. More money in the pockets of working Australians is more important than ever, particularly now, as we look down the barrel and buckle under the weight of Labor's cost-of-living crisis—more money to help Australians with their expenses, like mortgage repayments, groceries and energy bills, all of which are going up under this government.

While those opposite would like to talk about just about anything else, this is the No. 1 issue for ordinary Australians right now. Last April, the Treasurer said that this is a full-blown cost-of-living crisis. He used the words 'full-blown cost-of-living crisis'. That was last April. Now, since that time, inflation's at its highest point in 30 years, real wages are going backwards and are forecast to continue to go backwards for the entire term of this parliament, and interest rates are at their highest point in over a decade. However, even with these facts in front of them, the government still will not admit that they are presiding over a real cost-of-living crisis while they are in government.

Last week at the Select Committee on Cost of Living, Woolworths gave evidence that Australians are beginning to change their consumer behaviour and that they are getting increasing demands from their charity partners for up to 20 per cent more in food donations. Customers are beginning to leave things at the checkout rather than putting them into their bags, because their food bills are going up.

At the same time, we know energy prices are going up. Can you name an Australian who hasn't received a bill that has said that their energy prices are going up? Their electricity prices are going up. Their gas prices are going up. Ordinary Australians are feeling the pinch. This is despite a commitment by those opposite to reduce electricity prices by $275—a number they will not even say now that they are in government. They will not repeat the words 'two hundred and seventy-five dollars', and that's because energy bills are skyrocketing under their watch. Just late last year, Prime Minister Albanese promised a $230 reduction in energy prices—again, another promise that has disappeared already. Last week the cost-of-living committee heard from the Australian Energy Regulator that, in fact, investment in energy projects is disappearing entirely, threatening long-term supply, and its massive interventions in the market are actually causing prices to go up, not to go down.

This is a problem for all Australians. But the biggest one, of course, is Labor's addiction to spending, because Labor's addiction to spending—the $23 billion of extra money that was spent in the October budget alone—is one of the reasons why the RBA is being forced to over and over and over again raise interest rates, affecting mortgage holders and other borrowers—ordinary Australians who are feeling this in their pocket every day. We know that inflation and interest rates are both going to go higher under Labor, because Philip Lowe told us that they will. Australians will pay more.

In this environment, the coalition's Personal Income Tax Plan is more important than ever. It is more important for ordinary Australians to keep more of their own money under a simpler, fairer tax system.