Angus Taylor
Hume · Liberal Party · Australia
“It was in 1927 that the federal parliament moved from Melbourne, where it had sat for 26 years. It's a much better location here; I'm in agreement. It did take up a beautiful sheep station, but it has become a great city. It came to a provisional building, as we just heard, in the new capital of Canberra.”
“I'm sure that all in this place look forward to that special sitting of the parliament in Old Parliament House to commemorate the occasion, and I warmly welcome that opportunity.”
“On behalf of the coalition and the federal opposition, it gives me great pleasure to support the motion moved by the government. We warmly welcome the establishment of the Joint Select Committee on the Centenary of Parliament in Canberra.”
“He captured the aspirational spirit of the Australian people when he said: One's own life would hardly be worth living without its dreams of better things, and the life of a nation without such dreams of a better and a larger future … Prime Minister Stanley Bruce delivered an address in which he said: May those who enter this open door go…”
“Given the shortage of accommodation in the new capital, I think it was largely restricted to tents at that point. Consequently, the overcatered event reportedly saw a large quantity of Sargents meat pies left over. Legend has it they were disposed of in a pit where the Treasury building now stands.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Under Labor, aged care wait times have blown out to over a year. More than 200,000 Australians are waiting for care. Today, Labor was defeated in the Senate, which passed the coalition's bill to put people back in charge of aged care decision-making.”
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“In fact, our prosperity—let's face it—is built on peace in our region, which has been achieved through our relationship with allies and, in particular, the United States. It is also crucially important that we properly fund defence at a time like this, and a defence budget near two per cent of GDP is just not up to scratch. There's no shortage of experts who are telling us exactly that. John Storey, Director of Law and Policy at the IPA, has said: … Australia's defence budget is not sufficient to rebuild capability and arm the nation to provide a credible and effective deterrent from foreign aggression. Bec Shrimpton from ASPI has said: As a nation, we need to accept the need for higher defence spending. Hoping that conflict won't come is not a viable strategy.”
“Of course, at a time like this and under these circumstances, you would think that the Prime Minister of Australia would have had, after I can't remember how many days—we must be getting close to 300 days now—a face-to-face meeting with the President of the United States. But no. He has had three meetings with the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party but no meeting with the President of the United States. In every major war or conflict since Federation, we have fought alongside the United States. They are our greatest friends. You can have whatever opinion you like about the leadership of the United States at any point in time, but the US-Australian alliance is absolutely crucial to peace in the Indo-Pacific, the security of our part of the world and the prosperity of our part of the world too.”
“Tranche 2 of the AUKUS agreement is all about those technologies, and they are incredibly important. But the AUKUS agreement is also about the relationship between our countries and between the leaders of our countries, and it is incredibly important at this time that our leaders work together to make sure that AUKUS is successful. We learned today that the Minister for Defence has failed to get a meeting with the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, in the United States. He's gone all the way over there. He's not here this week, so we can't ask questions of him, and he hasn't even got a meeting with the Secretary of Defense. He certainly doesn't have a meeting with the President of the United States.”
“Central to that is our relationship, as I said, with the US and the UK, and that relationship has long been formalised in arrangements—the Five Eyes arrangements, ANZUS and so on. But we have also, more recently, formalised it in the very important arrangement under AUKUS. AUKUS is important not just because it's about nuclear submarines that can project force at a time when we need to be able to do that, because the Chinese Communist Party—let's face it—is militarising at an unprecedented rate. This is about peace, not war. This is about deterrence. This is about making sure our region, the Indo-Pacific, stays in peace. We all want to see that. But peace is achieved through strength, and strength is achieved through alliances. The AUKUS alliance is central to that. It is also crucial because of the technology that it brings to bear.”
“We appreciate and support the fact that the government have now made the decision that they have, to list the IRGC. But there was good reason to do that two years ago, and it is important to make that point. This does raise the broader point of the importance of free and democratic countries, at a time like this, working together in alliances against these authoritarian regimes—these regimes who want to destroy our countries and destroy our democracies and who do not believe in the values that we hold dear in this great country of Australia. Alliances with countries like the United States and the UK at this time are more important than ever, because we face the most dangerous environment we have faced since the Second World War and we need to behave in a way, alongside our allies, that reflects the danger of that environment.”
“That is why two years ago, in 2023, we called for the IRGC to be listed as a terrorist organisation in this country. When that brutal attack occurred, a couple of years ago, which we are all shocked by—I think everyone in this House would say that—it was hard to imagine that one of the sponsors of that attack, one of the funders of that attack, one of the supporters of that attack would participate in the kind of activity in this country we have heard about in the last couple of hours, but that is exactly what has happened. We know the Iranian government, and the IRGC, has sponsored, driven and been part of these attacks in Australia on Australian citizens, an attempt to harm Australian citizens— I take the point of the minister, that it has harmed Australians. It has harmed Australians. He's absolutely right about that.”
“TAYLOR () (): Authoritarian regimes around the globe are flexing their muscles. They are flexing their muscles. We saw it with Russia's attacks on Ukraine. We are seeing it with the unprecedented military build-up, driven by the Chinese Communist Party, to our north. We saw it with the attacks on Israel on 7 October by Hamas and we have seen it with the support that Iran and the IRGC has given to Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and others to attack democratic countries—in fact, the only democratic country—in the Middle East. We saw that brutal attack on Israel on 7 October—the beheading of men, the raping of women—that absolutely brutal attack by those monsters. We know that the IRGC has supported, funded, armed and trained Hamas for many years.”
“Since this announcement, I've heard from many ex-service people, not only from my electorate but across the country—veterans like James. James said, 'As a veteran, I recall many occasions where this service brightened me and the boys' days when they were doing it tough in the field.' Given that the defence budget's more than $50 billion a year and the Sallyman program needs only $1.5 million to continue, it's not like it's about the money. Cutting the Sallyman program is not the answer. I call on the government to reconsider this decision and ensure that this vital service continues for our serving men and women, veterans and their families.”
“I rise to raise serious concerns about a decision that will affect thousands of Defence Force men and women over the years to come. In its wisdom, the Albanese government has decided to scrap funding from the Salvation Army's Sallyman program. The Sallymen and Sallyma'ams have provided Australian troops with comfort, care and Christian chaplaincy for more than 125 years, during conflict and peacetime, on bases around the country. Whether it's a hot cuppa or a sympathetic ear, their presence has been a constant source of strength and reassurance. And this has been more than just a service; it's part of our Defence Force culture and heritage. Generations of Australian soldiers have relied on Sallymen and Sallyma'ams for support during their toughest moments.”
“A lot of wonderful people have donated time and money to get a facility up and running. I know men's sheds play an important role in the community by providing an environment where men can develop new friendships and learn skills. There are more than 80 fully paid members at the Camden Men's Shed, and that figure is only growing. They meet three times a week, instead of once a week, and take part in several activities—woodwork, metal work, welding and so on. They're also building wheelchair ramps at the homes of seniors who have accessibility issues. This is an absolutely fantastic initiative. Well done, Camden Men's Shed.”
“I'm pleased to report the staff at headspace in Oran Park are beginning to fill that gap. Young people can call directly or ask a teacher, a parent or another family to contact headspace for them, and from there they can be referred to any number of specialists, including psychologists, doctors, social workers, and alcohol and drug workers. An outreach service is available at Narellan as well to complement the Oran Park headspace. I really congratulate that South Western Sydney Primary Health Network Grand Pacific Health for making the project a reality in my electorate. I know staff have worked tirelessly for a long time to make it happen. It was an absolute privilege to attend the official opening of the Camden Men's Shed in my electorate a few weeks back. The project has been five years in the making.”
“Early intervention is critical in improving mental health outcomes; we've known that for a long time. It's particularly true for young people. They are the future, and it's vitally important to have a safe and welcoming place where they can talk to someone and just be themselves. The teenage years can often be the most difficult in anyone's life; young people are navigating who they are and what they want to do with their lives, and finding their place in the world. There are also challenges from peer pressure and the more recent challenge that we have seen from smart phones and social media in particular, which wasn't around when so many of us in this place were growing up. Unfortunately, lots of young people fall through the cracks. That's why it's so important they have someone to talk to who can point them in the right direction.”
“I want to bring to your attention two important projects in my electorate that are improving the lives of constituents. I recently had the privilege of attending the official opening of the new headspace centre in Oran Park. Headspace, initiated under the Howard government, of course, is a health program for Australians aged between 12 and 25 that offers highly effective free or low-cost support for mental health. Figures from the ABS show almost two in five young Australians aged between 16 and 24 faced a mental health disorder in the past year. It's an extraordinary number. Like many outer suburban areas in south-western Sydney, Oran Park has seen a rapid increase in our youth population and a real need for adequate mental health services.”
“There are times when I think we don't pay enough tribute to those who were part of that important work, those who sacrificed not just by serving our nation at that time but, in some cases, by making the greatest sacrifice of all and losing their lives. I pay tribute to those extraordinary men and women who served us in Iraq and Afghanistan. I pay particular tribute to those, some of whom we saw of last night and some of whose family we heard from last night, who made the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation. I commend this bill to the House.”
“I said earlier that this government is absolutely failing on its own goals in terms of defence personnel in this country and the recruitment and retention necessary to have a defence force of a size the government has itself set as its goal. This is letting down not just our nation but the people who serve this country now. I was very privileged last night to spend time with some of our bravest veterans, our special forces personnel. There were mostly veterans there last night to see an extraordinary documentary called Bravery and Betrayal . I strongly encourage everyone in this place to see this documentary. It is a story of the extraordinary bravery and the extraordinary sacrifices of our special forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan.”
“It is important to highlight how crucial this is not just to our safety and security but to our economic prosperity. This is a piece of this whole story that is not discussed nearly enough—that peace in the Indo-Pacific underpins our prosperity. It underpins our prosperity as well as our security, our safety. Our alliances with the United States and the UK through AUKUS but with others as well, such as Japan and India, are absolutely essential to that. Our allies expect us to be a credible partner. Our service personnel, present and future, expect a government that matches its words with action. I'll finish with a word about our defence personnel.”
“That is the objective of the exercise here, but peace is achieved only through strength, through capability, through delivery and through reality, not rhetoric, and we are not seeing it from those opposite. Legislation is one thing; delivery is another. We won't let this bill become another example of underfunded ambition, missed opportunity and strategic naivety. When it comes to defending our great nation and when it comes to the first duty of any government, which is to protect its citizens and the prosperity of its citizens at a time like now, the Australian people expect leadership. It is easy to understate the importance of a peaceful Indo-Pacific, of trade being able to continue through the South China Sea without any kind of intervention.”
“It must fund Defence Housing and allied support services, it must provide a credible plan to expand DHA's supply pipeline, it must ensure rigorous security screening for all non-ADF recipients, and, most of all, it must deliver, not delay, the enablers of capability. This is not just about Stirling , which will be the initial focus, of course, from the government, as it should be. This is an absolute priority because it's central to AUKUS and central to the nuclear-submarine capability that we need at this time. But it's also about whether Australia will meet this moment, whether we can support our alliances and our commitments to a peaceful Indo-Pacific, and whether we can defend ourselves in the event of conflict. It is important to remember that the purpose of all of this is not conflict. The purpose is peace.”
“The risk here is that in order to house the alliance partners, the suppliers and others necessary to make AUKUS a reality, we are able to house less of our own Defence Force personnel. To crowd out our own Defence Force personnel at a time when we are struggling to recruit and retain those necessary to keep a credible defence force is completely unacceptable. This is not a serious defence posture. It is a political drift dressed up as reform. The coalition, as I said, supports this bill. But we do so while moving the second reading amendment to make clear that the government must step up.”
“The Prime Minister and the Minister for Defence are fond of announcing reviews—they love a review; they love a target—but you cannot fight in a conflict on the back of a review. It doesn't work. Reviews are not great deterrents. Reviews are not a signal of strength. Capability is a signal of strength. You cannot deter aggression with PowerPoint, and you cannot build housing with rhetoric. We've already seen the consequences. Recruitment in the Defence Force is collapsing. In terms of personnel, we know we're thousands short of the government's own targets. Projects are on ice, capability gaps are widening, and now even housing for our allies—housing is central to the AUKUS enterprise—is being pursued without a cent of additional funding.”
“This bill itself, which widens eligibility and expands responsibilities—and we welcome that—comes with zero dollars in new investment. Let me remind the House that the coalition committed to lifting defence spending to 2½ per cent of GDP within five years and to three per cent within a decade. In opposition, we have reaffirmed that three per cent is the minimum required to meet the circumstances that we face, which the Prime Minister has said are the 'most uncertain and the most dangerous, indeed, since the Second World War'. Labor is still stuck at around two per cent of GDP, and there is no credible pathway to the increase needed to deliver on what we need at this time. There is no plan to close the gap between what Defence needs and what Labor is willing to fund. They are underfunding their own defence strategy.”
“I mean, this is a government who committed to 1.2 million houses. It legislates ambition; it loves to do that, but where's the outcome? We know that outcome is not going to be achieved. We see it in their energy policy of 82 per cent renewables—ain't gonna happen! It's on the front page of the papers. It's not going to happen. It's not just this bill, of course. We see this pattern right across the board. Labor's Defence Strategic Review cut or delayed more than 20 major projects. Their integrated investment program remains uncosted and unfunded. It is clear, from expert after expert, that if Labor is to properly implement its own Defence Strategic Review it will need to substantially increase funding to around three per cent of GDP. But there is no such commitment from this government.”
“Now, when it comes to moving from rhetoric to readiness, standing on our own two feet on the platform of our great alliances, with agility becoming a strategic asset and people becoming the foundation of our capability, this bill has the potential to touch on every one of these pillars. But its passage cannot be where the conversation ends, because, while the legislation expands Defence Housing Australia's remit, it offers no funding, no supply plan, no capacity uplift and no strategic guidance, and that is completely unacceptable. Let me turn, then, to funding and resourcing for what is required here, what is necessary to support and sit alongside this bill as a complement to it. This government continues to legislate ambition without resourcing it. It likes to do this in all sorts of places. It likes to do it in housing more generally.”
“Now, it's all good to talk about it, but achieving agility is harder than talking about it. It's time this government got serious about agility in military capability and stopped setting itself goals that it fails to meet. Get on with doing the job. We need leaner decision-making, faster procurement and deployable infrastructure, not just more bureaucracy. We've got a command structure in the ADF that is going to continue to make innovation and agility incredibly difficult. Fourthly, people are the foundation of capability. If we don't house, support and retain those who serve our great nation—Australian Defence Force personnel, allied forces and critical enablers—we will ultimately have what ASPI has called a 'paper defence force'. That, of course, is completely unacceptable to the Australian people.”
“Thirdly, agility must become a strategic asset. I think we have all seen in recent times, in what's occurring in Ukraine, what's occurred more recently in the Middle East and what has occurred with Israel and Iran, an increase in ability, innovation, military capability and military preparedness that was not obvious before these conflicts emerged. These technologies extend to drones, obviously, and that's been a major feature of the war in Ukraine. It's also been a major feature of the successes of Israel in recent times in taking on Iran. We need to get serious about these technologies and these innovations. We're seeing it not just in drone technology. We're seeing it in undersea technologies. We're seeing it in missile technologies. We're seeing it in sensing technologies, and of course AUKUS Pillar II is focused on exactly this.”
“But readiness is not built on rhetoric; it is built on reality, and we are not seeing that from the current defence minister and from this government. Secondly, we must be able to stand on our own two feet. But that is only achieved through the strength of our alliances. The strength of those alliances means that sovereignty can be real and that we are able to stand on our two feet. Now, that does mean having the capability here in Australia and, where appropriate, that capability being developed in Australia, and we have seen from this government commitments to sovereign missile manufacturing in this country that, as yet, has not occurred. Again, they're all talk and no action. If we are to be serious about sovereignty then we need to act on it, and, so far, we have seen this government and this defence minister fail on that front.”
“Firstly, and perhaps foremost, we strongly believe that defence policy must move from rhetoric to readiness. This means acting with urgency and getting capability into the hands of our forces now—not in 10 years time. It is beyond comprehension, in that context, that the Minister for Defence has accepted no longer receiving readiness reports and reviews from the ADF. It defies comprehension! How can we know whether we are prepared, and whether our ADF is in the position it should be in, without getting official reports from the ADF? But that is exactly what has happened in recent times under this government. Defence policy must move from rhetoric to readiness. We hear a lot of rhetoric from the Minister for Defence; he loves a good bit of rhetoric.”
“Our prosperity, our security and our way of life have always depended on our ability to deter aggression through credible cooperation, and nothing undermines that credibility faster than failure to deliver. This bill will be the first operational test of AUKUS on Australian soil. Submarine rotations, joint training, integrated deterrence—none of these work without housing. If the Albanese government fails this test, the consequences will not be contained to Stirling and Western Australia; they will be felt in Washington, in London and in every corner of the Indo-Pacific. AUKUS is a generational national project. If we failed to deliver, it would be one of the most serious foreign policy failures in living memory. The coalition support this bill because it aligns with our core principles when it comes to defence strategy.”
“It has long been true that some in this place and around our country are keen to undermine and criticise our alliances, particularly that with the United States. But this alliance has long underpinned our sovereignty and peace in the Indo-Pacific, and it will continue to for a long, long time—I have no doubt. But its continuation as an underpinning of peace in the Indo-Pacific is determined by the work we do as a key alliance partner in the region, alongside Japan and the role of others—India, of course, is increasingly playing a role in this. But those alliances are absolutely essential to peace and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. From the First World War to Afghanistan, Australia has never secured peace by standing still; it has done so by standing alongside trusted partners, by showing resolve and by building capability.”
“These are not tourists; they are deployed allied forces who are here to train, to deter and to uphold regional stability. If we can't house them, we can't host them. And, if we can't host them, AUKUS cannot function. So let me be clear: this is not about charity for our allies; it is about our own national interests. It is important to spend a moment talking about alliances, because some in this place see alliances as compromises. They see alliances as compromises to our sovereignty. But, throughout history, we know that alliances don't undermine sovereignty—they underpin it. This has always been true, and the strength of our alliances will determine the strength of our sovereignty.”
“There is no shortage of experts telling us that we are now seeing great power conflict, or the risk of it, on a scale that we haven't seen since the Second World War. In that context, it is incredibly important that Australia do its bit, alongside our allies, to make sure that we defend our great nation, that we ensure that there is ongoing peace to our north and that we recognise above all that peace is achieved through strength and through deterrence. Weakness is provocative, and, at any time through history of great power conflict, that has always been true. This bill before us is small in size, but it is serious in consequence. It enables Defence Housing Australia to accommodate US and UK submarine crews under Submarine Rotational Force—West beginning from the third quarter of this year.”
“The coalition supports this legislation and will facilitate its passage to support the implementation of AUKUS, but I rise also to issue a warning. This bill must not be a substitute for delivery. It cannot be another example of the Albanese government legislating without funding, promising without planning and expanding responsibility without expanding capacity. Australia faces the most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War. Authoritarian regimes around the world are flexing their muscles. We've seen it with Iran, both directly and through their proxies in the Middle East. We're seeing it with Russia and, of course, their illegal invasion of Ukraine. But we are also seeing it with the rapid military build-up by the Chinese Communist Party to our north.”
“I rise to speak on the Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025, and I move: That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: "whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes: (1) that the strategic environment facing Australia is the most challenging since the Second World War, requiring increased investment in national defence capability; (2) that the credibility of the AUKUS partnership depends on Australia's ability to deliver housing and infrastructure for allied personnel in a timely and secure manner; (3) that the bill expands Defence Housing Australia's responsibilities without any additional funding or a supply-side housing strategy to support defence families or allied personnel; (4) the importance of strengthening Australia's alliances with the United States and the United Kingdom through delivery, not just declarations; and (5) the urgent need for the Government to commit to increasing defence expenditure to at least 3 per cent of GDP, and to deliver the enabling capabilities required to protect Australia's prosperity, security, and way of life".”
“Evelyn McDonald OAM of Wollondilly was recognised for her decades of dedicated volunteer service. She was a founding member and inaugural treasurer of Wollondilly Riding for the Disabled. She's also volunteered for Picton meals on wheels for over 20 years, Tahmoor Primary School P&C and gave nine years as treasurer of the Wollondilly Pony Club. Kylie Purcell from Harrington Park dedicated years to supporting families of premature and sick newborns within Miracle Babies Foundation, and June Roots OAM from Penrith has been honoured for her decades of community service across a range of local causes. Deidre Tronson from Werombi was honoured for science education and research, inspiring young people in STEM.”
“I rise to congratulate outstanding individuals from my electorate who have been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in this year's King's Birthday honours. These awards celebrate Australians who have gone above and beyond for their communities, and I'm proud to say I have many of those people in my community. Edward Gilroy OAM from Narellan Vale was recognised for his outstanding service to the community through many years of involvement in civic and volunteer organisations, including Macarthur Lions Club, St Johns Anglican Church and the Camden Library, amongst others. A devoted father of four, grandfather of 10 and great-grandfather of 15, Ted continued to serve the community into his 90s. I was saddened to hear of his passing just a few weeks ago, and I extend my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's answer yesterday when he said the circumnavigation of Australia by Chinese Communist Party warships needed to be viewed in the context that Australia participates in the South China Sea. Is the Prime Minister seriously suggesting that, because Australia engages with allies in the South China Sea, the Chinese Communist Party is free to conduct live fire exercises without warnings off the South Coast of New South Wales?”
“Prime Minister, the circumnavigation of Australia by armed PLA navy vessels, which included live-fire exercises without warning in the Tasman Sea, was totally unacceptable and must never happen again. Following a six-day visit to China, what assurances did the Prime Minister receive from the Chinese president that armed PLA navy vessels will no longer conduct surveillance and live-fire exercises off our coast?”
“TAYLOR () (): My question is to the Treasurer. The Treasurer has said: … the reason why we support fuel excise relief, we want to see people under less pressure at the bowser … Nothing would make me happier than if there was some pressure taken off families who are doing it tough … Why is the Treasurer now refusing to cut the fuel excise to provide immediate relief to cash strapped Australian families?”
“There is a better way—beating inflation; boosting growth; cutting waste; getting rid of red tape; knocking down the barriers to growth like the CFMEU, which has made the construction industry a nigh-on-impossible place to get things done; fixing the housing supply by breaking infrastructure bottlenecks; delivering that affordable, reliable energy that every Australian wants to see; and balancing housing supply with immigration. We cannot afford another three years of Labor; there is a better way.”
“He was struggling today because of the $1 trillion of debt. We heard a lot about that. It turns out it's his. He'll be looking for excuses for that, but the truth of the matter is that their housing supply has absolutely collapsed. They promised 1.2 million houses, just like they promised a $275 reduction in electricity bills and just like they promised a lower cost of living. Their housing programs haven't delivered a single house—zippo. They haven't delivered a single house; meanwhile, the records keep getting broken for the number of people coming to Australia. What we saw in the forecast for this year is another increase as they get the forecast wrong yet again.”
“We are a great immigrant nation. As the member for Banks said just before question time, we are a great immigrant nation. We have managed to be a great immigrant nation by getting the balance right between the number of new people coming into the country and our capacity to cope with that—the new houses, the infrastructure and the services that we need. The trouble is, when you bring in over one million people in just two years, the balance is never going to be right. As it turns out, it's worse than that, because the housing supply under this Labor government has absolutely collapsed. The ambassador for excuses over there—the Treasurer—will blame anyone. President Xi gets a blame. Donald Trump gets a blame. Putin has had a blame. He'll blame the lot. The dog has always eaten this bloke's homework!”
“On big spending, there has been over $400 billion of additional spending since Labor has come to power. The Treasurer likes to say that he hasn't spent all the windfalls he got. Well, you know what? He is also a big taxing Treasurer because that's gone up by $400 billion as well. He has spent the lot of it and more, and that is why we see red ink as far as the eye can see, with $170 billion of deficits over the forwards. That is 6,000 bucks on the credit card of each Australian—$6,000! For an Australian family, it's more like $15,000 put on the credit card. I tell you what, Australians are indeed paying for that 70c a day they will be getting in 15 months time, which is not going to touch the sides. What we also saw in this budget is a big Australia plan—1.8 million new Australians over the course of five years.”
“When we look at those three tests, Labor has absolutely failed. Our standard of living, according to the Reserve Bank now, won't get back to where it was when Labor came to power until 2031. If there was ever a lost decade, this is it. We are not getting back to where we were when we were in government until 2031. These are dark times but there is nothing in this budget that has any hope of getting us back to where we were any faster. In terms of hope, there is nothing here. All any Australian can hope for is 70c a day. Is that it? Is that the full extent of it? In terms of budget integrity, well, this was truly a shameful budget. It was a big spending, big taxing, big Australia, big deficit budget. I will go through each of those pieces because each of them is worth expanding on.”
“When I get around my electorate, what I see time and time again is people who run cafes and pubs having to work weekends because they can't afford to pay the overtime if they are going to be able to pay themselves. This is a disastrous situation for small businesses, and it's no wonder we are seeing them go under. With an 18 per cent drop in their incomes, they are losing hope. The third test for this budget was that they restore some integrity to the budget. Now, we have already seen three budget flops. The hope was they would re-establish those disciplines, those rules, that were put in place all those years ago by the Liberal government to make sure that there was a budget that wasn't going to leave billions and billions of dollars on the credit card for the Australian people.”
“When we get around Australia and talk to small-business people and hardworking Australians, which is what my colleagues here today do every single day when they are outside of this place, we hear time and time again that Australians are losing hope. Young Australians who are wanting to buy a house are losing hope. Slightly older Australians with a family who have bought a house, who have a mortgage and who want to be able to pay it out, are losing hope. Those 2.5 million Australians who have a small business, I tell you what, they are losing hope. Some 29,000 small businesses have gone under, a record number, under this government. We have seen incomes of small-business people absolutely smashed.”
“It's worse now than it was back then. We have never seen that eight per cent drop. The hard reality for an Australian family with a mortgage in Western Sydney and much of Australia right now is that they have had to find in the last three years $40,000 in after-tax income that they did not expect to have to find—$40,00—and this lot think that 70 cents a day, in over a year from now, will make up for that. Now, that's a cruel hoax. The second thing we said was that we need to restore hope for the Australian people. We need to see a light at the end of the tunnel, a genuine light at the end of the tunnel, and we did not see that in this budget.”
“At the top of that list was the restoration of their standard of living that has collapsed under Labor. The facts on this are important, because we have never seen a collapse like we've seen in the last 2½ years in Australia's standard of living. That is the goods and services that their incomes can buy. We've never seen it before. Many of us remember the early seventies under that great government, the Whitlam government, from 1972 to 1975—they were an absolute shocker. It was so bad that by 1975, at the ripe old age of nine, I was out campaigning for the Country Party. That's how bad it got. But it wasn't as bad as this. Many of us will remember the 'recession we had to have' from the hero of the Treasurer, Paul Keating, who now hates the Treasurer because the Treasurer wants to go after unrealised capital gains.”
“It is absolutely clear that what we have just seen handed down in this place is a budget for the next five weeks, not the next five years. It is a budget for the prosperity of the Treasurer and the Prime Minister, not the prosperity of hardworking Australians. What Labor is offering in this budget is a cruel hoax, and this Treasurer is a cruel hoax and this Prime Minister is a cruel hoax because what they have said to the Australian people, as their standard of living has absolutely collapsed, is that all they need to make up for that is 70c a day, starting over a year from now. This is truly offensive to the Australian people. I laid out before this budget flop, as I did before the other three budget flops, a very clear test for what the Australian people could reasonably expect of a good budget.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to the government's increase to the Migration Program to 1.8 million people over five years. Will the Treasurer guarantee it will not go higher than 1.8 million?”
“TAYLOR () (): My question is to the Treasurer. A short time ago the Treasurer suggested the instant asset write-off was already budgeted for. Can the Treasurer confirm that there are no budgeted funds to extend the instant asset write-off from 1 July this year?”