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senate vote 2023-02-08#4
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2023-02-10 12:33:07
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Title
Matters of Urgency — Income Tax- Matters of Urgency - Income Tax - Reaffirm commitment to tax cuts
Description
<p class="speaker">Deborah O'Neill</p><p>I inform the Senate that the President received today the following letter from Senator Hume:</p>-
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2023-02-08.195.2) introduced by Victorian Senator [Jane Hume](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/victoria/jane_hume) (Liberal), which means it failed.
- ### Motion text
- > *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.*
<p class="italic">Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">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."</p><p>Is the proposal supported?</p><p class="italic"> <i>More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—</i></p><p>I understand that informal arrangements have been made to allocate specific times to each of the speakers in today's debate. With the concurrence of the Senate, I ask the clerks to set the clock accordingly.</p> <p class="speaker">Jane Hume</p><p>I move:</p><p class="italic">That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p> <p class="speaker">Jess Walsh</p><p>I too rise to speak on this urgency motion before the Senate today, submitted by Senator Hume, on tax and the cost of living. First, let me say that our priority when it comes to tax reform is ensuring that multinationals pay their fair share of tax here in Australia. Multinational corporations will pay an extra $1 billion in tax as we clamp down on excessive deductions and profit shifting to other countries. Cracking down on multinational tax avoidance is absolutely key to our government's revenue agenda.</p><p>So too, of course, is cracking down on the waste and the rorts that have contributed to a trillion dollars of debt left to us by those opposite without any economic dividend to show for it. It is the waste and the rorts of those opposite that we are setting about fixing. It is the waste and the rorts of those opposite that have left a hole in the budget that has been left to us to repair. The sports rorts, the car park rorts, the airport land rorts—remember those? They are the rorts of a former government that spent taxpayer money like it was a Liberal Party slush fund.</p><p>Stop to imagine where we'd be today if those opposite had actually thought about how to invest in the Australian people and in the Australian economy instead of in their own failed re-election plans. Imagine if they had invested in any forward-looking plans to address any of the structural economic causes of the cost-of-living crisis today: if they had invested, for example, in renewable energy generation and transmission; if they had invested in manufacturing and securing our supply chains; if they had invested in the security of Australian women and their ability to participate fully in our economy. Imagine, if those opposite had spent 10 years investing in social and affordable housing, where we would be today in the cost-of-living crisis affecting Australians. Imagine if they had invested in the skills crisis that is holding business back right now, today, and holding Australians back from achieving their full potential.</p><p>The former government was asleep at the wheel. They were asleep on climate and energy. They were asleep on jobs and skills. They were asleep on securing manufacturing supply chains. They were asleep on understanding how gender equality drives economic growth. They were asleep on housing supply—absolutely asleep at the wheel. So much could have been done to strengthen our economy for the future in the last decade. So much should have been done. The fact that so little was done to position our country not just fort the challenges ahead but for the opportunities too is a complete dereliction of responsibility. You trashed any notion of good government. You trashed any notion of good economic management. It is Australians who are paying the price now nor a decade of missed opportunities and messed up priorities under the former government.</p><p>What we are doing is getting on with delivering the meaningful investments that Australians need, which maximise our economic impact and which meet the needs of the community today. We understand that the cost of living is hitting Australians hard, and so our economic plan is a direct and deliberate response to the challenges facing the economy and that you left behind. That's why one of the very first acts of this government was to successfully argue for an increase to the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation. We are proud to be getting wages moving once again in this country after a decade of flat wages brought by those opposite. Our October budget focused on cost-of-living relief and didn't put extra pressure on inflation, and that's the most important thing. Tackling inflation is our top priority.</p><p>That, of course, has been noted by the rating agencies, reaffirming our AAA credit rating, pointing to our responsible economic management. We are delivering the economy that Australians need. We are getting wages moving and we are dealing with the cost-of-living pressures that you left behind.</p> <p class="speaker">Nick McKim</p><p>Here we are, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Food, petrol, medicine, transport, rent, electricity, insurance, mortgage repayments—you name it; the price of everything is going up. However, while workers, students, mortgage holders and small businesses are all getting smashed, corporations are making record profits. Real wages are going backwards, but company profits are at record highs. Inequality is increasing before our very eyes, and yet here we are today—here are the Liberals today—asking the Senate to endorse a $9,000-a-year tax cut for billionaires. How out of touch can you get! They are tax cuts for the super-rich that will further fuel inflation, further fuel inequality, and make the cost-of-living crisis worse for everyone except for those who are already very wealthy.</p><p>That's what you expect from the Liberals, but the real issue here is the Australian Labor Party, once the party of the workers but now just another political party for the asset-owning class. Labor senators know that the stage 3 tax cuts are bad policy. Labor has actually never once run the argument that stage 3 tax cuts are good policy—never once—because they know that they're not. They only supported the stage 3 tax cuts for the very wealthy to neutralise the issue so as to give themselves the best chance of winning the election. Make no mistake about it, Labor's policy on the stage 3 tax cuts boils down to this: they're not going to do the right thing, because they promised to do the wrong thing. That's Labor's policy. They would rather turbocharge inequality—and, for that matter, gender inequality—than change their position. It's a quarter of a trillion dollars in tax cuts, three-quarters of which goes to the top 20 per cent of income earners. And twice as much of the benefit goes to men as goes to women.</p><p>If Labor had the political will, they could 'unlegislate' the legislated tax cuts. The numbers are there in this parliament—in this Senate and in the House—if Labor is prepared to do the right thing by this country, but they're not. That's why the stage 3 tax cuts are no longer the Liberals' stage 3 tax cuts. They are Labor's stage 3 tax cuts, because if they're not prepared to ditch them then they're going to have to own them.</p> <p class="speaker">Hollie Hughes</p><p>The last six months have been interesting and embarrassing at times, but I really do think that today we've seen a new low bar set. It is just extraordinary to hear question time answers and other contributions made by those now in government where they are almost in denial of a cost-of-living crisis. The Assistant Treasurer has now declared that the RBA is going to stop raising interest rates, so the crisis is over—no need to look here! There's constant blaming, whining, carry-on, looking back to the past and passing the buck as Australians feel the pinch more and more every single day.</p><p>I think it is really time for those opposite to grow up and understand they're in government, and that that means actually making decisions that are going to be better for Australians, not worse. Obviously that memo got missed, because every single Australian, since the Albanese government has come to power, is now worse off. Stage 3 of the tax cuts that were legislated are almost at 'Voldemort status'—like the $275, 'the number that shall not be named'. They're not quite at Voldemort status but they are getting very, very close. We were told 97 times that power bills were going to go down by $275, but we know that they're going to go up, and they're probably going to go up by more than $275. So the stage 3 tax cuts are going to be required. All those tradies who are going to see, on an income of $80,000, almost $2,000 back in their pocket each year are going to need it, because their mortgages have gone up eight times since this Labor government came to power. You can compare that to the last Liberal government, when there was one increase.</p><p>We now have interest rates and a cash rate at the highest they've been in 10 years, but we're not seeing this government pull any policy levers that are moving towards reducing inflation. Every step they take, every move they make, they are making a bad situation worse—</p> <p class="speaker">Paul Scarr</p><p>The Police!</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
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