Jim Chalmers
Rankin · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“It's why we have delivered and are delivering an ambitious budget defined by reform and resilience and responsible economic management. We've been delivering for the Australian people while the member for Hume has been destroying the Liberal Party. We've been delivering for Australians. He's been destroying the once great Liberal Party.”
“I acknowledge the member for Gellibrand and thank him especially for his work on Asian capability and the big report that he has just released as the chair of the education committee. Today is obviously a very important day.”
“We don't just acknowledge those challenges; we are addressing them. That's why we are delivering more tax cuts for Australian workers, more pay rises for people on awards and the minimum wage and a fairer tax system for first home buyers.”
“It's because every time the Australian people need them to vote to help them with these real pressures that they face, they vote to make things worse rather than better. They leave this parliament today more divisive and more divided than ever. We leave this parliament today delivering for the Australians who sent us here.”
“On Friday, we learned that the deficit for the year just finished will be smaller than anticipated at budget time, and we know from the AOFM this week that our debt will be $200 billion less than the trajectory we inherited from those opposite. If those opposite had their way, there'd be bigger deficits and more debt.”
“The member for Macquarie is a wonderful representative of workers and small businesses and families in her beautiful part of Australia. Today is a really important day, as the Prime Minister said a moment ago. We are delivering tax cuts.”
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“These changes will only apply to residential property held by individuals, partnerships, companies and most trusts. Commercial property and other asset classes, such as shares, will remain subject to existing arrangements. Widely held trusts and superannuation funds (including SMSFs) will be excluded. Investors can continue to use negative gearing on new builds, ensuring the benefits of negative gearing are directed to investments that support growth in Australia's housing stock. Negative gearing will continue to support those residential properties which genuinely add to supply, such as dwellings constructed on vacant land or where existing properties are demolished and replaced with a greater number of dwellings. Properties held at announcement will be allowed to be negatively geared in future years until sold.”
“And, importantly, the four existing small-business CGT concessions will remain in place, allowing eligible small businesses to reduce or completely remove tax on any gains when they sell. Schedule 2 to the bill amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to limit negative gearing for residential property investments to new builds and key government housing priorities. From the 2027-28 income year, losses related to existing residential investment properties purchased after 7.30 pm AEST on 12 May 2026 will only be deductible against other income from residential properties, including capital gains. Excess losses can be carried forward to offset residential property income in future years, so investors can continue to claim a deduction in the future for costs such as maintenance.”
“The minimum tax reduces the incentive to defer realising capital gains until marginal tax rates are low, and it better aligns the tax rate on gains with the tax rates paid by most workers. Recipients of certain government payments, such as the age pension and JobSeeker, will be exempted from the minimum tax. These changes will apply to all CGT assets, including pre-1985 CGT assets, held by individuals, partnerships and trusts for at least 12 months. In line with our goal of supporting new housing supply, investors who buy new builds will be able to choose either the 50 per cent CGT discount or indexation and the minimum tax when they sell the property. The existing CGT discount of up to 60 per cent applying to qualifying affordable housing will be fully retained to preserve incentives to invest in those assets.”
“It will depend on a range of factors, like rates of return, inflation and the holding period. Someone who invested in the Australian share market and received the average return would have done about the same or possibly better under indexation over the past 10 or 20 years. This is all about removing the distortions in the system that have warped our housing market and coincided with decades of low productivity growth. Returning to indexation across all asset classes ensures investments are treated in a neutral way and that we don't create a new distortion. Encouraging investment to follow economic returns, not tax advantages, will support productivity over time. In addition to indexation, a minimum tax rate of 30 per cent will apply to real capital gains accruing from 1 July 2027.”
“Our reforms will mean 75,000 more home owners entering the housing market over the next decade, reversing a decade of decline in home ownership rates. Schedule 1 to this bill amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and related legislation to replace the 50 per cent CGT discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships with cost base indexation and a 30 per cent minimum tax rate on capital gains accruing from 1 July 2027. Under these changes, investors will index the cost base of their assets in line with inflation so they only pay tax on their above-inflation profit. The changes will apply prospectively, with the 50 per cent CGT discount applying to gains accruing up until 1 July 2027, while indexation will apply to gains accruing thereafter. Not everyone will pay more tax under these changes; some will pay less tax.”
“After more than two decades of a distorted tax system, property prices have far outstripped wage growth. Following the policy mistakes made a quarter of a century ago, home ownership has been pushed further and further out of reach, especially for young Australians. We hear a lot about helping people get on the property ladder, but there's no point having a ladder if the first few rungs are missing. For too long, governments have turned a blind eye to a broken status quo—a status quo that is unfair for people and unproductive for our economy. We are not just acknowledging this; we are acting on it. This bill limits negative gearing on properties purchased after budget night to new builds and returns the capital gains tax to its original intent.”
“We've already delivered tax cuts to every single Australian taxpayer by bringing rates down and pushing thresholds up. Another tax cut will commence on 1 July in just over a month's time and again on 1 July next year. Together with the new tax relief in this bill, the average Australian worker will receive a combined benefit of up to $2,816 in 2028. Our tax cuts have been opposed before, and they should not be opposed again. We are cutting taxes for workers, and we're also making it easier to buy a first home. For too long now, too many Australians have been locked out of the housing market. We have an ambitious housing agenda, and supply is still our primary focus. But it has become increasingly clear that that can't be our only focus.”
“More than a quarter of those who will benefit are under 30, and more than half are women. People claiming more than $1,000 in work related deductions still can, and anyone claiming other non-work related deductions will be able to do so on top of the instant deduction. This includes charitable donations, superannuation contributions, union and professional association membership fees, and income protection, sickness and accident insurance premiums. The Working Australians Tax Offset is set out in schedule 3 to the bill, and the $1,000 instant tax deduction is set out in schedule 4. This is more relief from a government which cuts income taxes whenever it responsibly can. We are now cutting income tax five times in three different ways.”
“The Working Australians Tax Offset will provide a permanent tax offset of up to $250 every year for over 13 million Australians from the 2027-28 financial year. This is responsible tax relief targeted to working people. It means more money in the pockets of our nurses and teachers, tradies and truckies, and other Australians who earn salaries and wages. It represents the most meaningful, permanent increase to the effective tax-free threshold since Labor last increased it more than a decade ago. The bill also delivers on our commitment to introduce a $1,000 instant tax deduction from the 2026-27 year. Not only will this make tax time simpler for millions of workers; it will put cash back into their pockets as well. Around 6.2 million people will benefit, with the average worker receiving an extra $205 at tax time.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Today we are proud to introduce the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026. This is a bill for workers, first home buyers and future generations. This is the first step in the most ambitious tax reform package for a quarter of a century. It will help ensure aspiration and opportunity are the birthright of every Australian, not just some. This bill delivers on three objectives. It cuts taxes for every Australian worker—again, and again. It makes it easier for people to buy their first home. And it better aligns the tax treatment of labour income and asset income. The bill has four core elements: This bill delivers even more tax relief for workers.”
“It's why the shadow Treasurer himself has said: There's no intergenerational justice in such preferential arrangements … He wrote that in his book. He said in the parliament: … the tax system is screwing over young Australians. The Institute of Public Affairs said that indexation is 'a more rational and economically efficient way to tax capital gains'. Too many Australians are locked out of housing. We're addressing that and cutting income taxes for workers, and those opposite should vote for it.”
“Their three objectives are to talk down the economy, to talk up division in our society and to run a scare campaign against the same changes that the shadow Treasurer has repeatedly called for. Our three objectives are to make it easier to own a first home, to cut income taxes again and again, and to better align the tax treatment of income and assets. That's why Bob Breunig at the ANU says: Australia's most ambitious budget in decades deserves support. It acts on numerous fronts long treated as too hard: negative gearing, the capital gains tax discount, trusts and the tax burden on workers. It's why the Barefoot Investor said: The system lets wealthy families with good accountants pay less tax than nurses and tradies. That doesn't pass the pub test.”
“It's why we've saved more than we've spent in the budget and improved the bottom line each year, and got debt down a bit more as well. It's why we're helping with the cost of living in a responsible way by cutting fuel taxes, and cutting income taxes as well. Tomorrow we will introduce the tax cuts legislation with the changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing. They're in the same bill because one pays for the other. It means that we are cutting income taxes five times and in three different ways. The average worker will save $2,800 a year when it's up and running. If those opposite vote against a tax cut, they'll be making the exact same mistake that they made last year. It will prove beyond any doubt that they haven't learned a thing from the last election and that they haven't changed a bit since.”
“A big thank you to the member for Corangamite for her question and for all of her work. Inflation came down in the data today for April, and that's very welcome news. It came down by more than what was expected, but it's still too high in our economy. We had inflationary challenges before the war, but the war has made them worse, and those impacts are broadening out in our economy. Petrol was a big part of the improvement in today's data, but it's not the only part. Rents and food came down a bit as well. Again, that's welcome. Our inflation came down in April in Australia while it went up in April in the US, Canada and the Euro area. But we know that people are still under pressure, and that's why our budget strategy is so responsible and so important.”
“This legislation is all about making it easier to own a first home, better aligning the tax treatment for workers and asset owners and also funding these tax cuts. The reason these four elements are all together is that the negative gearing and capital gains tax changes fund the tax cuts for workers and for small businesses. The package is broadly revenue neutral over the four years, and that's why these measures are all in together. By passing the core elements of the package quickly, we will give the market some certainty about the major changes while we consult on the implementation details flagged in the budget. This is not unusual. The Howard government's GST reforms required more than 30 bills, and when it came to the capital gains tax changes in 1999—also around 30 bills. So this legislation on Thursday is a test for the coalition—”
“Thanks to the member for Bennelong for his important question and for all of his work. This government is cutting taxes for workers five times, in three different ways. We cut taxes in our first term, there's another tax cut in July and another one the July after that, and on Thursday we will introduce legislation to cut income taxes a fourth and a fifth time as well. That's because that legislation includes a thousand dollar instant deduction and also the Working Australians Tax Offset. Our tax cuts mean that an average worker could be up to $2,800 better off in the year that these tax cuts are implemented. The legislation on Thursday includes those new tax cuts, and it includes the changes we are making to negative gearing and capital gains.”
“This is why UBS said: From a 'big picture' point of view, equities would become a relatively more competitive investment proposition … NAB said: By the principles of optimal tax policy, this change should deliver an efficient, fair and robust regime once fully implemented. Westpac said, 'The tax system did overly encourage leveraged investment in property over investing in other things, whether that was the stock market or a business or something else that produced income.' That's why we're making these difficult changes. We know that they are contentious, but they are to benefit young people in the housing market and when it comes to income tax cuts, and that's the purpose of what we are trying to do.”
“In dealing with this mistake that was made in 1999, which turbocharged house prices and decoupled incomes from house prices, we wanted to make sure that we didn't replace that mistake with another one. So this is about reducing distortions in the market. Our changes mean that some people will pay less tax. The current discount undercompensates some investors for inflation and overcompensates others. On average, over the past 20 years, the indexation approach would have been broadly neutral or even a bit more generous for shareholders. The proportion of Australians who own shares has declined by almost 20 per cent since Howard and Costello made that mistake in 1999.”
“Here are a couple of new numbers—the honourable member asked me about modelling. Young people will be the biggest beneficiaries of the working Australians tax offset, and two-thirds of the recipients of our new tax cuts will be millennials and Gen Z, in 2027-28. Another new number comes from our thousand-dollar instant deduction: 2.3 million people under 35 will benefit, which is about 40 per cent of beneficiaries, as well as the 75,000 extra households that we will turn from rental households into homeowner households. So this is genuinely a budget for young people. I'm asked about making sure that, by replacing one sense of unfairness in the system, one distortion in the system, we don't replace it with another.”
“I thank the honourable member for her question. First of all, when it comes to young people, this is a budget for young people. It's a budget that recognises that, for too long in this country, young people have been locked out of the housing market, as the housing minister just explained to the House, and we're taking some difficult decisions to address that. For too long now, too many young people have seen this aspiration of homeownership as something that belongs to somebody else, and we want to fix that. We're here to make a difference in that regard. We're also helping to make sure that the tax system is fairer for workers—predominantly, overwhelmingly for young people. Young people, overwhelmingly, earn income from working. Eighty-four per cent of young people earn 90 per cent or more of their taxable income from work.”
“Now, when it comes to the changes that the shadow Treasurer is asking me about, I remind him of somebody who said this, and I'm quoting: There is no intergenerational justice in such preferential arrangements … That was a quote from an author of a book, who also said in this parliament: Today it's time to be honest: the tax system is screwing over young Australians … it favours well-off, established interests against those trying to get ahead … people who can predominantly live off of income from their assets can pay very little tax and get discounts on capital gains from increases in asset values. The same person said: Young Australians need to demand a fairer tax system, where they aren't the only ones carrying the burden to cover the cost of Australia.”
“I'm reminded that the last time the shadow Treasurer tried to cite an example—this time, at the National Press Club—it turned out that the person whom he had based his entire speech around was more than likely exempt or able to access very considerable concessions and carve-outs. The last time he got up here, all puffed up with self-importance, but at the National Press Club, he used an example who was able to access one of these four concessions and carve-outs for small businesses that we are not changing. So you'll forgive me for taking with a grain of salt anything that the shadow Treasurer says when he tries to quote specific examples in the parliament.”
“There are people who see the social, economic and political division and dislocation around the world and want to avoid it versus those who want to copy it. There are people who see aspiration as the birthright of every single Australian and those who see aspiration as the exclusive preserve of people who are already doing very well. Thursday, when the legislation is introduced, will be another test for those opposite. This time they should vote for tax cuts. (Time expired)”
“On Thursday, in this parliament, we'll be introducing legislation to give effect to these tax cuts: the standard deduction, the Working Australians Tax Offset and the core elements of the changes to negative gearing and capital gains. We will learn on Thursday whether they've learned the lesson from the last election. The last time this parliament cut taxes, those opposite voted against it and said that, if they won the election, they would repeal those tax cuts. We will learn on Thursday whether they've learned anything from the last election, whether they've changed a bit in recent times. What we already know is that there are two kinds of people in this parliament: people who see the issues in the housing market for young people and want to fix them, and people who see those issues and want to do absolutely nothing about it.”
“We're cutting income taxes five different times in three different ways. We've got the tax cuts already legislated, including another round in July this year and another round after that in July next year. Those opposite voted against those tax cuts. We've got a $1,000 instant deduction next financial year, and now we've got the Working Australians Tax Offset announced in the budget. Altogether, our five different tax cuts will mean the average worker will benefit by up to $2,816 in 2028. We're also delivering over $3½ billion in new measures to lower taxes for businesses, and we're reducing compliance costs by more than $10 billion a year. This is what the budget was all about.”
“Thank you to the member for Macquarie not just for her question but for the very substantial small-business experience that she brings to this parliament. The tax reform package at the core of the government's fifth budget was about three main things: making it easier for people to buy their first home; cutting income taxes for 13 million Australian workers; and better aligning the tax treatment between people who work and people who earn their income in other legitimate ways. A really important part of that budget was that tax cut for 13.3 million Australians—the Working Australians Tax Offset. It's targeted to workers. It represents the most meaningful permanent increase to the effective tax-free threshold since Labor last increased it more than a decade ago. But it's not the only way that we're cutting income taxes.”
“We are currently completing a second round of consultation on the draft legislation. I've been doing some of that myself, and also Treasury has, and we're considering all of those submissions. Overall, I assure the honourable member that we are focused on making Australians big beneficiaries of this energy transformation, and unlocking investment in Australia's energy system is a really important part of that work.”
“Some of these court cases which have been playing out, costing the Commonwealth money, are because there is an ambiguity between the intersection of the state arrangements and the Commonwealth arrangements. The ATO has made it clear they're not going to go back a long period and revisit all of these decisions, but, where there have been court cases, we have to responsibly step in and clarify the law and make sure that it's working as it's intended to. That's what that element of that is. We've heard a lot about the significance of these reforms for investments which are already in train. That's why we've got this proposed time limited targeted concession for clean energy investments, which will support the sorts of developments that the honourable member wants to see in our economy, as I do. So I welcome her question.”
“I pay tribute to the energy minister for the work he does with the state colleagues on some of those transformational recommendations in the NEM. We're investing another $500 million to accelerate environmental approvals. That's important too, when it comes to building more clean energy. And we're strengthening the super performance test to make sure that there aren't any unintended barriers to investments in areas, like renewable energy, that can still deliver strong returns for members. When it comes to these tax arrangements for foreign investors, we've been consulting on legislation which is all about ensuring foreign residents pay a fair share of tax in Australia. Our land and natural resources belong to all Australians, and what this recognises is that there's an area of longstanding uncertainty.”
“We're not rushing. This is a measure that's actually been in various budgets and updates for a little while now. The purpose of it is to make sure that we are not providing additional tax breaks that are not enjoyed by Australians. When it comes to the transitional arrangements referred to by the honourable member, it's all about recognising that the transitional arrangements are necessary to make sure that we protect some of these investments in clean energy. I know that that's in the interest of the honourable member, as it is in the interests of a lot of people here. The budget that we handed down took further steps to transform our energy system, making it easier to build and easier to invest. We've got the generational reforms to the National Electricity Market.”
“The last piece is the working Australians tax offset. What that does is it creates some new architecture to provide tax relief only to working people. It means that, in the future, a government of either political persuasion—to be fair—has a broader range of options when it comes to returning bracket creep, as this government has been doing enthusiastically and regularly.”
“That really is one of the main motivations for the tax reforms that we handed down. The member for Wentworth is right to point out that that has two elements. One element is making things easier for people who work for a living. Another is making sure that the tax arrangements for people who earn their income from assets is more sustainable. That those two things are in closer alignment—that's what we've tried to do with this tax reform package. So the CGT changes and the negative gearing changes are part of the story but not the whole story. This is a government which, only being here for four years, has now cut income taxes five times in three different ways. Three income tax cuts have come from higher thresholds and lower rates, and one from instant deduction, which provides a bit more tax relief.”
“I acknowledge the very substantial amount of work and thinking that the member for Wentworth has done when it comes to tax reform, with her participation in the reform roundtable and in other meaningful ways, as well as the very serious input and contributions being made by people on this side of the House. A lot of the tax reforms that we announced on Tuesday night come from people working through these issues in a considered and methodical way, and I acknowledge that that's how the member for Wentworth comes at some of these questions. Her question really goes to, I think, the core of the tax reform package that we announced on Tuesday night, because it is—as she rightly identifies in her question—about better aligning the tax treatment of people who work for a living with the people who get their income from other legitimate sources.”
“The member for Moore is an absolute champion for the working people of the west, and that's what this budget is about; it's a budget for workers. The tax reform package in the budget is all about levelling the playing field and better aligning the tax treatment of workers compared with people who receive their income from other legitimate sources. It's about helping more Australians recognise the dream of homeownership by getting a toehold in the property market. That's what makes it a very aspirational tax reform package. We understand, on this side of the House, there's nothing aspirational about stacking the deck against younger Australians. And that's what the tax system does now in the way that it interacts with the housing market.”
“That is the difference between the substantial budget that we handed down on Tuesday night, worked through in a considered and methodical way, and the latest effort from those opposite—this unseemly brawl amongst the three-ring circus of the right-wing parties in this country. We have delivered a serious, substantial plan to strengthen the economy; his will be a ploy to stave off One Nation. I saw that the shadow finance minister was out this morning, and this is what the shadow finance minister said about the budget reply tonight: 'I'm sure you will find out that everything is costed and offset in the usual way.' That's the commitment that the shadow finance minister has made this morning. Let's see if the Leader of the Opposition follows through.”
“Also, we've got sensible and responsible and substantial savings in the budget: $64 billion worth of savings; a budget which is $44.9 billion stronger than in the mid-year update—paying down the debt that we inherited from those opposite. Now, if you look right across our budget, the budget that we handed down on Tuesday night, it's a very substantial plan. It's about getting through a difficult period in the global economy, at the same time as we reform our economy for the future. We've seen enough to know about the sorts of things that the Leader of the Opposition will talk about tonight. And so we already know this: ours is a plan to strengthen the economy; his is a ploy to stave off One Nation.”
“We're taking pressure off Australians, with permanent tax cuts, and a thousand-dollar instant deduction; we've got the legislated tax cuts already. We're building more homes. There are higher wages. We're increasing the Medicare levy low-income threshold. We're making our economy more productive: getting compliance costs down by more than $10 billion a year, and lifting the investment of firms, particularly young firms, in R&D. We've got the tax reform for workers and businesses and future generations. It is all about making it easier for more Australians, and particularly younger Australians, to find a toehold in the housing market and in the economy more broadly.”
“A big thank you to the member for Chisholm for the question but also for the very substantial contribution that she makes to our team and made to the budget that we handed down on Tuesday night as well. And in the absence of any questions from the opposition about what was actually in the budget on Tuesday night, I'm especially grateful to the member for Chisholm, because this is a responsible budget which is all about resilience and reform. It delivers immediate help, to get people through this global oil shock, and some urgent reform to build an economy that works for more people. In the budget, we're doing five main things. We're responding to the global oil shock: more than halving the fuel excise; reducing the heavy vehicle road user charge; and securing more fuel internationally, through the new facility.”
“The member is referring to the transitional arrangements in the renewable energy sector where we're moving from a more generous treatment to a less generous treatment over time. He's not quite accurately representing the situation. What we're doing in capital gains for foreign investors is equalising the arrangement because it was too generous to foreign investors. We're making it more consistent with the tax paid by Australians, and that means, in some important areas of the economy, a transition from the existing arrangements to the new arrangements—just like in the capital gains tax changes we announced last night; there are transitional arrangements there too.”
“It's a very, very small part of our economy, so it's not a big part of the changes that we are announcing, but it's an important part of the economy, and our work will reflect that.”
“We had been consulting privately with the sector already, before last night, to make sure that we can get the right arrangements in place. I say to this part of the economy, we think that you are a really important part of the economy in lots of ways—the hope of the side, when it comes to dynamism and productivity—and we will reflect and recognise that in our policy. There are particular circumstances in this part of the economy when it comes to the calculation of the cost base for CGT, which is the concern that the member and other members are reflecting. My commitment to the sector, publicly and privately, has been to continue to work on these issues to get the best landing that we can.”
“I thank the member for Curtin for her important question. I do acknowledge that, in parts of our economy—and in this very important part of our economy, the startup and VC sector—there is more work to do and more consultation to do to make sure that we get the right set of arrangements. I want to acknowledge members on this side of the House, including the member for Chifley and other members, whom I've been engaging with. The member for Parramatta is obviously across these issues, and a bunch of other colleagues are as well. The budget is very supportive of venture capital—VC. There are a number of tax changes in there which are about supporting, assisting, encouraging and incentivising more of this really important part of the economy. But I do acknowledge that, even before last night, this sector had raised some issues with us.”
“I say to the young Australians in the gallery today: this side of the House is on your side when it comes to getting a toehold in the housing market. There is nothing aspirational about a status quo that turbocharges the issues in the housing market and makes it harder and harder for more people to get ahead. This side of the House is about aspiration for more people. That side of the House sees aspiration as the exclusive preserve of a very few Australians.”
“Again, that's about recognising that, when the Howard-Costello government changed the arrangements for capital gains, they introduced a big distortion into the tax system which made it harder for Australians to buy their first home in particular. We are acting in the budget to try and address those legitimate concerns that people have about the opportunity to own their first home. I noticed that the word aspiration is being used by those opposite to explain locking more and more Australians out of the housing market. This side of the House knows about aspiration from our local communities. That side of the House learns about aspiration from focus groups. The reason we know that is because there is nothing aspirational about stacking the deck against young Australians.”
“The third objective is to improve productivity by encouraging more investment and more innovation in our economy. Each of the elements of the tax package that we released last night is about satisfying one or more of those objectives that we have. And so there are tax cuts for more than 13 million workers. There were big incentives for innovation and investment and supporting small business. I shout-out the wonderful small business minister for her work on the small business part of this package. There were also, of course, some of those admittedly politically contentious changes to capital gains and negative gearing.”
“Thanks to the absolutely terrific member for Bean for his question and for all of the work that he does in our team as well. A big part of the ambitious budget that we handed down last night from this dispatch box was tax reform. In that tax reform package, we took on a number of difficult issues, recognising that the tax system is often part of the problem rather than part of the solution when it comes to ensuring that our economy can work for more Australians. Our tax reform package was really all about three objectives. The first one was about better aligning the tax treatment of people who work and people who get their income from other legitimate sources. The second motivation was to try and level the playing field to help more Australians, particularly younger Australians, get a toehold in a really difficult housing market.”
“I want to tell the House what the shadow Treasurer wrote in his own book about capital gains. This is what he said, and I'm quoting—”
“I think any objective observer of our housing market and how it interacts with our tax system would conclude that the combination of those two things is making it too hard for Australians, particularly younger Australians, to get a toehold in the housing market. That's why we are making these changes. We understand that those opposite are heading towards making the same mistake that they made at the last election in repealing, saying that they will repeal our tax package. Our tax package gives tax cuts to 13.3 million workers. For anyone who's looking for evidence that they haven't learned a thing and they haven't changed a bit, they're coming back and saying that they will repeal our tax package. The question from the shadow Treasurer is about capital gains.”
“I appreciate the question being flicked to me from the Prime Minister, from the shadow Treasurer. The question is about the examples provided in the budget to help people understand the very important and very ambitious tax reforms which are in the budget that we released last night. An important part of that is about dealing with a big distortion that exists in our tax system which makes it harder and harder for young people to buy their first home, particularly young people. What we're doing with this tax package is better aligning the tax levied on people who work versus people who earn their income in other legitimate ways, and we're levelling the playing field in the housing market.”
“So 45 per cent down from the peak after the surge that we inherited from those opposite—that's on the net overseas migration numbers, down 45 per cent from their peak. In the last full year, that came in as 30,000 fewer than the Treasury forecast in the budget. We've been managing that down. Obviously there are calculations around departures and the like which are altering the forecast this year and next year, but, overall, net overseas migration has come down. I didn't see you mentioning that when you were traipsing from disappointed door to disappointed door in Farrer. That's the first point. The second point—and the housing minister just made this point, I think, in a very compelling way—is our budgets, and not just the budget on Tuesday night but all our budgets, have been—”