Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think it's important to know—because of the scaremongering which has already started on that side of the chamber in relation to the announcement of the Albanese Labor government's tax cut plan—that this plan is far superior to the previous Morrison Liberal government's stage 3 plan. That plan was hatched five years ago, whereas the Albanese tax plan that we have to give real cost-of-living relief to Australian workers is for now; it's for these economic times. This is not a plan that was hatched, as I said, five years ago but one that is relevant to 2024 and to combating the cost of living.

Times have changed. As a government we needed to amend the stage 3 plan so that more Australians would receive more of their money back to help deal with the changing economic circumstances that we are experiencing. With these changes the government is making our tax system fairer. We're delivering more relief for more workers, without adding to inflation and without burdening the budget. Every taxpayer across Australia will receive a tax cut.

These tax cuts will help relieve cost-of-living pressures for all Tasmanians, from where I come, who are experiencing real challenges with the cost of living. In Bass, which is northern Tasmania, this means 47,000 northern Tasmanians will receive a tax cut. For 40,000 of these people, they will get a larger tax cut than they would have under the proposed Morrison Liberal tax cuts. Overall, people living in Launceston and northern Tasmania will be, on average, $1,343 better off under the Albanese government's plan. This is about relief for the cost-of-living challenges we are all facing, and it is a superior tax plan than that offered by those opposite, because more tax relief will assist more Tasmanian families.

Around 90 per cent of taxpayers in Tasmania will receive a bigger tax cut. Around 89 per cent of taxpayers in South Australia will receive a bigger tax cut. Around 87 per cent of taxpayers in Queensland will receive a bigger tax cut. Around 86 per cent of taxpayers in Victoria will receive a bigger tax cut. Around 84 per cent of taxpayers in the Northern Territory will receive a bigger tax cut. Around 83 per cent of taxpayers in New South Wales will receive a bigger tax cut. Around 81 per cent of taxpayers in Western Australia will receive a bigger tax cut. And around 79 per cent of taxpayers here in the ACT will receive a bigger tax cut.

What do these tax cuts mean for certain groups? Well, 6.5 million female taxpayers will receive an average of $1,649 relief. Of those, 5.8 million women—that's 90 per cent of them—will receive a bigger tax cut than they would have received under the Morrison plan. On average, that is an increase of $707. A person on the median taxable income, of around $68,000, will get a tax cut of around $1,379. That's $804 more under the Albanese plan, as opposed to the Morrison plan. A person on an average annual salary of around $73,000, as I spoke about earlier today, like a nurse at the Launceston General Hospital in my home state, will get $1,504. That's $104 more under our plan compared to what they were offering in 2019. What does this mean for young Australians? All 1.5 million taxpayers between 18 and 24 will receive a tax cut of over $1,000—around $1,007.

This is good. It doesn't matter whether you're talking about older Australians, younger Australians or all inspirational taxpayers in this country—because every Australian aspires to do better for themselves and their children. We have taken a broadbrush approach, but middle Australia has been looked after. They will always be able to rely on a Labor government to do more. We're not about scaremongering. We're about good policy.