Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know you weren't here. I wasn't here either; I was in high school, or maybe just out of high school. But I remember them, and I think a lot of Australians who were taxpayers at that time remember them. Another Labor government, another broken promise on tax policy.

Labor governments have form in this area. This Labor government has form in this area. What about the promise that there would be no changes to superannuation taxation arrangements? Yet, lo and behold, in the next few months we're about to see an increase in superannuation taxation, one that's going to hit that part of the economy that's very close to my heart, as I've talked about in this place—the SMSF sector, particularly those related to small business and farmers who have happened to put some tangible assets into their self-managed super funds, like farming property. As a result of natural price inflation, that property will now potentially be worth more than $3 million and they're going to face a tax bill. In order to pay that tax bill, those farming families will have to either come up with cash or sell assets.

So there we have it: we've got a Labor government that breaks promises. We've got a Labor government that, to use the Australian vernacular, tells porky pies. I love the old expression 'the furphy'—the tall tale told around the water carriers back in World War I. This is a Labor government that tells big furphies. It tells the Australian people things that simply are not the truth. The Prime Minister says things like, 'My word is my bond.' You can't say anything more direct than that. And then the Australian people see those mistruths come forward. They see the twisting of the words and Labor twisting in the wind as they try and keep a straight face while they remain true to their commitments to the Australian people.

Labor governments have form. We've talked about Keating, former Prime Minister Gillard, former Prime Minister Rudd and now we're talking about the Albanese Labor government—governments that repeatedly had form in this tax space. Every aspect of taxation that they supposedly have committed to not altering is now under question. The Australian people will go into the next election with that reality staring them firmly in the face. This is a Labor government that cannot be trusted with the future of the Australian economy. Australian households have seen their costs increase by $8,000 to $25,000 per year. These are costs that the average Australian family simply cannot bear, and this government cannot be trusted to do anything about it.