Angie Bell
Moncrieff · Liberal National Party · Australia
“Twice the Prime Minister was directly asked whether he could guarantee that house prices wouldn't tank as a result of his government's housing policies; twice he refused to answer.”
“At the same time, the government's own budget papers show rents are set to rise. Do those opposite realise that cheaper house prices mean nothing when the cost of living makes it impossible to save for a deposit? We already see young Australians locked out of independence, forced to live at home longer as rental stress worsens.”
“Over 2½ thousand people experience homelessness on the Gold Coast on any given night, and the money raised from this event will go directly to supporting those locals getting back on their feet. I want to thank everyone who donated so generously to the CEO Sleepout.”
“Back to the bill in front of us, this is a bill that changes a process, to give more power to a minister—the same minister who had to pay back the debt—and a bill that nobody has asked for. The government has not justified the need for a change in process.”
“Labor is more interested in their bottom line than supporting grassroots sport and the communities—like the communities of everybody in this place—who rely on it. At a time when families are tightening their belts, affordable community sport has never been more important.”
“I want to start by talking about sport, the inspiration that is sport and what it can do for young lives. I was inspired, as the federal member for Moncrieff, just a few weeks ago when I attended the Benowa State School, where there was a boccia tournament for three primary schools across my electorate.”
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“It has even admitted it does not pay its writers—or so-called artists—despite the fund's purpose of directly supporting artists. Meanwhile, genuine artists, performers and writers are competing for limited support while a politically aligned publication enjoys the benefits of an arts funding scheme. Is this yet another example of Labor's jobs for mates? We don't know, since the Minister for the Arts has failed to respond to my letter, now more than two weeks old. Real artists deserve support and Australian taxpayers deserve accountability from their government.”
“I rise to speak on the growing lack of accountability within this government and its funded bodies. When government promises something, Australians expect it to deliver. And when taxpayer dollars are spent, it's expected that they reach their intended recipients. Creative Australia says its Australian Cultural Fund is '100 per cent for artists, 100 per cent to artists'. So how did a political blog receive more than $669,000 through this scheme? Well, maybe it comes down to the fact that Creative Australia staff were caught coaching them through their second application attempt, to help them 'fit' into the criteria. Emails from Creative Australia show that the application hit a roadblock because it had nothing to do with arts or culture. By any commonsense reading, this blog does not meet the intent of the funding.”
“These carve outs do not fix the problem. They just let Canberra decide which businesses are worthy, which businesses are innovative and which Australians are allowed to get ahead. Small-business people know the truth. Every good business has to innovate every day just to survive. More complexity does not fix bad law. This is a failed policy from a failed budget. Labor should stop playing politics, withdraw the bill, scrap these toxic taxes and start again. This is an all-out assault on Gold Coast small and family businesses.”
“Last Wednesday, I hosted a small business roundtable in my Surfers Paradise office to bring together local business leaders, and I wish to acknowledge Anne Nalder, Laura Younger, Kelsey Taylor, Matthew Anderson and Emma Curtis for taking the time to share their experiences and concerns. The overwhelming sentiment from every person around that table was simple: Labor's toxic taxes punish hard work, aspiration and investment. Now, just weeks after delivering its budget, Labor is scrambling to introduce carve outs. If these taxes are bad enough to run away from now, they are bad enough to scrap all together. The government told Australians they would not touch capital gains tax, negative gearing, trusts, super or stage 3 tax cuts. Labor broke those promises. If you couldn't trust Labor on tax a month ago, you cannot trust them now.”
“After that entrance, my question is to the Minister for Sport. There are over 70,000 community sporting clubs across Australia, many of which rely on donations from trusts. How many community sporting clubs will now feel the brunt of Labor's minimum 30 per cent tax on trusts?”
“I would note for the House the lack of enthusiasm from the other side talking about this Labor policy—a proud reform of Labor's with zero enthusiasm from those on the other side. They have to stand up and defend this policy that they know is an economy-wrecking policy. The member for Macnamara opposite had five years in Daniel Andrews's office as a senior adviser before coming to this place with no real-world experience when it comes to managing the economy. I mean, Dan Andrews isn't exactly the brains trust of the success of the Victorian economy, with the over $200 billion debt that he left behind—”
“When do the families pay the full difference out of pocket? Labor's failure costs families dearly. The average full-time childcare place costs around $36,000 a year before the subsidy. It's comparable to elite private school fees. Meanwhile, the childcare subsidy is projected to reach more than $21 billion by 2029-30, which is up from $15.76 billion just last year. Billions are flowing into a system still failing on affordability, still failing on flexibility, and, in too many parts of regional Australia, failing on accessibility. Costs are up, the subsidy bill is up—”
“Childcare costs are up 14 per cent since Labor came to power. Child care is not cheaper, Mr Albanese. The latest ABS data shows that childcare costs rose 9.1 per cent in the past year alone, almost double the rate of inflation. Don't listen when you hear that child care is cheaper, because you know, as a parent, that it's not. The Prime Minister promised cheaper child care, instead, families are paying more than ever. This is the cost of Labor. If you vote for them once—maybe you voted for them twice—you're going to pay for it for 10 or 20 years. That's what happens, and you're feeling it in grocery runs, in power bills and in every time a family drops their child at care and wonders how they're going to make it work. Why do almost 40 per cent of childcare services now charge above the hourly rate cap, Minister for Education?”
“It was a booby trap that Labor set for us, but they're in government again now, and they have to deal with it, allowing providers to raise their base rates. Now, families are being left to pick up the bill. This is gross mismanagement in the early childhood education and care sector by the Labor government. Since Labor was elected, Australians have suffered the biggest fall in living standards of any comparable developed nation according to the OECD data. The data does not lie. This country has gone backwards by at least 10 per cent. It is not childcare costs hurting families, it is everything: gas is up by 41 per cent; electricity, 37 per cent; insurance, 42 per cent; rents, 23 per cent; food, 17 per cent; and health, 17 per cent. Families are under pressure. This government just doesn't get it; they just keep spending.”
“Remember, 'My word is my bond.' He said it during the election campaign, he said it in the leader's debates, and he staked his place in history on it. But, if this budget is the result, Australian families, I think, deserve a full refund. Parents have now been warned of substantial increases in out-of-pocket childcare costs due to expired fee caps, unfunded educator wage increases—I'll get back to that—and Labor's broader cost-of-living crisis. Early childhood educators deserve to be fairly paid, but, after Labor failed to provide ongoing funding certainty following previous wage increases, providers are now facing permanent cost pressures. At the same time, federal fee caps that limited how much centres could increase fees by are, well, expiring.”
“I begin by thanking the incredible educators, carers, centre directors and all of the support staff working in early childhood education and care across Australia because the work that you do is invaluable. Every day, you help educate and nurture our youngest, littlest learners, preparing them for school, for learning and, of course, for life. You also provide the support that enables parents to participate in the workforce and support their families. Thank you for the enormous contribution that you make to our communities. This budget was Labor's chance to show Australian families they understood the pressure that they are under—and, bah bow, they failed. The Prime Minister repeatedly told Australians that universal child care would be his 'defining reform'.”
“They increasingly feel like they're getting hit over the head with opportunities disappearing under this government because they're going to inherit higher taxes, higher debt, higher cost of living and higher unemployment, which is all in the budget as going up, and fewer opportunities than generations before them. I'd like to thank all of these sponsors for the IMPACT summit: Sea World Foundation, Griffith University, Southern Cross University, Village Roadshow Theme Parks, Homecorp, TAFE Queensland and many other media partners, as well as Karen Phillips OAM for her outstanding direction of the IMPACT youth summit.”
“Right now, young Australians are being hit hardest by rising rents, by grocery bills, by fuel costs and by the soaring costs of their education under this government's gross mismanagement, and many young people feel that homeownership is becoming entirely impossible for them. At the summit, 18-year-old Levi Knight, an outstanding young Gold Coaster, spoke about the growing financial pressures facing young Australians, from university costs and unpaid internships to transport and everyday living expenses. His message reflected what so many young people are feeling. They are working hard.”
“When you put young people from different backgrounds and different schools together in a room, that's when the magic happens. They get to meet new people. They have a new network and new role models, and new relationships are built. I call that opportunity. What does opportunity do? It helps with aspiration, which those on the other side don't seem to understand. It gives young people a platform to talk about their concerns and their hopes and dreams for the future, which is so very important. We heard loud and clear from young Gold Coasters this year that their biggest concern is the cost of living and how they're struggling to pay their bills because of inflation and other measures that the government has mishandled. They're also concerned about their mental health. They're concerned, of course, about the environment.”
“It's just unbelievable that they're talking about aspiration on the other side of the House. I'll take that interjection from the minister. I rise proudly today to speak about the IMPACT Gold Coast Youth Summit 4.0, a nation-leading event that I was thrilled to pioneer in 2023. I continue to serve as patron in my role as shadow minister for youth. This year more than 200 young people aged 15 to 24 converged on the Sea World Resort conference centre to connect, learn and speak openly about the issues that are impacting them personally. This gives young people on the Gold Coast a voice and, certainly, a stage and a microphone to talk about their issues. IMPACT brings together young people from all backgrounds—all cultures, identities, abilities and schools across the Gold Coast, and some university students as well.”
“Because with this government every promise comes with an expiry date, a 'what if', a question mark, a maybe. Aussies are still waiting for that broken promise of $275 off their power bills, Prime Minister. Before the election he says one thing; after the election he does another. Look at what Labor do, not at what they say. Because when Labor run out of money they come after yours.”
“This government was elected on a very clear promise: no changes to capital gains tax, no changes to negative gearing. The Prime Minister didn't say it once; he said it more than 50 times. But now—'We've changed our position. We've changed our minds.' This is yet another grievous broken promise, and it's one among many. If the Prime Minister can break this promise, which he repeated more than 50 times before an election, why would Australians trust a single thing he says after it? You've got no cred, Prime Minister; you can't lie straight in bed, Prime Minister. So what's next, we all must ask; tax our homes—take that to task. On their utes in the driveways, tradies will pay; tax the kids' piggy banks away. Ask yourselves, Australians, which promise will be conveniently reinterpreted next? Which goalposts will be shifted?”
“When families and investors have less capacity to contribute, communities feel it. Government cannot simply assume public spending replaces private generosity. Strong societies need both. This budget discourages aspiration. It creates uncertainty. It risks leaving the next generation with fewer opportunities than the generations before them. Australians deserve better than a government that sees every challenge through the lens of higher taxes and higher spending. Labor have lost control.”
“And then there's the arts sector. Well, what is the arts sector? Oh—it's small businesses. The arts sector is full of small businesses. Australia's cultural sector depends not only on creativity but on investment, philanthropy and community support. Artists, galleries, organisations and cultural institutions rely heavily on donors and patrons who choose to invest in Australia's creative future. When taxes increase and investment incentives weaken, philanthropy will be affected. It will disappear because philanthropy is not an optional extra in arts and culture; it's often what keeps programs running, exhibitions open and opportunities—the great Aussie opportunity—going, especially under this government. The same applies across sport and community organisation.”
“It's about teamwork. It delivers opportunities for young people and for families. When children miss out, communities lose too. At the elite level, there are broader concerns at hand. Professional athletes often have uniquely short earning windows. We know that. They get hurt. They carry pain after they've been hurt. They carry injuries, and therefore their careers are cut short. And, unlike many careers, elite sport does not continue into someone's 60s. Athletes often rely on careful financial planning and investment to provide security after competition ends, and tax settings matter because they shape incentives to save and prepare for their life after their sport. At a time when Australians are under pressure, this budget does nothing to make participation more affordable or strengthen pathways for grassroots to elite sport.”
“The national debt—hello!—is getting to $1 trillion, and it's going to cost future generations $80,000 a minute. How is that equitable? This government continues to prove that fiscal discipline is something only the coalition can restore. As this government's poor decisions continue driving up cost of living, this budget completely ignores another consequence of these pressures, and that's participation in sport. Families are now having to choose between sending their kids to sporting events and not because they're under so much financial pressure. They're making these difficult choices. Parents are having to decide whether they can still afford football rego, netball fees, dance lessons or swimming. That's no small thing. Sport is not just recreation. It's about resilience. It's about friendships. It's about discipline.”
“At the same time as the Prime Minister's taxing Australians to breaking point, government spending continues to expand. Why? Because this government continues to believe every challenge can be solved with more spending. They're addicted to spending. They have a spending problem. But spending does not grow the economy. Spending does not boost productivity. We know that. This Treasurer is simply just redistributing the economic pie. He even said so himself on a recent episode of Insiders . He said: … over the course of the forward estimates our tax reform package is broadly neutral. We are returning what we're raising … But they are redistributing it to different people. With the national debt set to hit $1 trillion any day now, this government continues spending for today and leaving the consequences for future generations.”
“He's shut the gate. He's dropped the guillotine. He's broken his promises. Young Australians today already face housing unaffordability, rising rents, higher living costs and increasing barriers to getting ahead. For previous generations there was a clear social contract: work hard, save hard and invest in yourself, in your business and in your community and you'll get ahead and have a better life. The Gold Coast was built by families on this premise and this promise. But the Prime Minister has now changed his mind. Young Australians and young Gold Coasters deserve that same opportunity. But, instead, the government continues to chip away at the very settings that helped Australians build their financial security. Our nation is rightly asking: if investing and building wealth is becoming harder, what incentive remains?”
“It's killing your reward for all of your efforts. That's why the coalition has pledged, as I said, to increase the instant asset write-off to $50,000 and make it permanent, because we have to back small and family business. Aspirational Australians are not the problem. They are the solution to so many problems. These are outstanding Australians employing locals, sponsoring community groups and creating opportunity. When the government makes it harder to build wealth, invest and grow, eventually fewer people try. The Prime Minister has spoken a lot about intergenerational equity in this budget, but what he actually means is socialism, where the outcome is the same for everybody. How is it equity when he's denying today's Australians the very opportunities that past generations were fortunate to benefit from and which helped them get ahead?”
“They are taking away from business wherever they can, make no mistake. There are tradies who are working weekends and sacrificing their holidays to build something of their own just to have it taken away by this government. These changes are destroying confidence across our small and family business community. They are the engine of the Gold Coast, the absolute engine of our economy, and I thank them for the work they do every single day. Every additional tax signal tells Australians that taking risks may no longer be worth it. That is the message that this government is now sending to the business community across our country. That matters because aspiration is not something we should punish. It's called reward for your effort. That is what it is called, and the Albanese Labor government is killing it.”
“Many go years without paying their own wages or super. It's a bit of a small-business joke that the Albanese government probably doesn't get, but most business owners get paid $2.50 an hour, when they break down their profit by how many hours they actually work. This Labor government want to take nearly half of their profit. Many Gold Coast businesses structure their affairs through trusts—not as some loophole but as a legitimate and longstanding way to manage risk, to manage their succession and to manage, of course, their investments for their future and for their children's future. For the local builder who invested profits back into equipment under the coalition, that would be a $50,000 instant asset write-off. Under this government, it's only $20,000 instant asset write-off.”
“Nowhere is that message felt more strongly than amongst our small-business owners on the Gold Coast, who are rightly seething and angry, outraged by this government's tax backflip. Local business owner Mark says: The Labor Party don't have a business brain in their heads. I've never seen so much doom and gloom coming from entrepreneurs. Every time Labor comes to power, I have to lay off staff and my business goes backwards. On the Gold Coast we have literally tens of thousands of local businesses. They're not run by big corporate boards turning huge profits. They are risk-takers. They are entrepreneurs. They are mums and dads who own small and family businesses. They are tradies. They've put everything on the line, and often their business is tied to a mortgage for their house as well.”
“This budget reveals something much bigger than a line item in Treasury papers; it reveals a government that increasingly sees aspiration, innovation, investment and risk not as something to encourage but as something to tax—something that creates a revenue stream to pay for their travel rorts, for example. At a time when Australians are already under enormous pressure from the rising cost of living, Labor's response is not to help Australians get ahead. This is a desperate government that is trying to make life harder for all Australians. This government's changes to capital gains tax send a clear message to Australians: work harder, save wisely, build something for your family, and the government will move the goalposts and take it all away. That's the message that this government is sending to Australians.”
“I do feel the need to rebuke the member for Solomon for his assertions about the Northern Territory government. I would extend my great support to the Chief Minister, Lia Finocchiaro, on the great job that her team is doing for Northern Territorians, including in the electorate of Solomon. We send our best wishes to Northern Territorians, from the coalition and from the CLP in the Northern Territory. I rise today to speak on behalf of my community and to call out this government's budget for what it actually is: the Albanese Labor government's war on aspiration. It's a war!”
“There must be stronger oversight, there must be stronger protections and there must be greater accountability—all weaknesses of this Albanese Labor government. But our support comes with an expectation that implementation is transparent, that consultation is genuine and that Australians with disability remain at the centre of every decision. The NDIS is one of Australia's most important social reforms. Its future matters, its integrity matters and, most importantly, the people who rely on it matter. I once again thank every Australian who quietly dedicates themselves to caring for other Australians living with a disability. Your work matters, your compassion matters and Australia is stronger and better because of you.”
“Providers delivering essential services should not be left carrying unsustainable financial risk while trying to do the right thing by participants. At every stage, the government must remember that the goal is not simply to reduce growth. The goal is to build a stronger scheme, a fairer scheme and a more sustainable scheme that protects participants while supporting innovation and choice. That means getting the balance right: stop the exploitation, support our legitimate providers and, most importantly, protect participants. The coalition will support this bill because we recognise that change is necessary. The findings of the NDIS review and the royal commission make clear that reforms cannot be ignored.”
“Their focus is not on gaming the system. Their focus is on helping people live better lives—hats off to them. I've heard directly from allied health professionals and providers concerned about workforce sustainability, funding settings and administrative burdens. Concerns have been raised that pricing decisions, travel arrangements and funding structures risk reducing access to services, particularly to capacity-building supports designed to help participants become more independent over time. There are also distributors who are NDIS providers who are charging a premium once they import some of the equipment and then add their margin to it—their overly bloated margin. These concerns deserve to be heard because reform cannot simply reduce costs in the short term while creating bigger problems down the road.”
“We continue hearing stories of providers charging inflated prices simply because services are being paid through the NDIS. Families tell us they seek quotes for everyday supports and watch prices increase dramatically once the words 'NDIS funded' are mentioned. I have had many families come to my office in Surfers Paradise to speak to me about these difficulties, and those issues are indeed unacceptable. Participants should never be treated as funding streams, and taxpayers should not be treated as unlimited sources of revenue. But integrity also means making sure good providers are supported, because not every provider is doing the wrong thing—far from it. In Moncrieff, organisations like LGO Therapy Group have worked tirelessly to provide evidence based, person centred support to young people and adults living with disability.”
“We support measures that better protect participants because fraud in the NDIS is not victimless. Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar not available to support someone like my friend Tilly. This bill includes measures around provider registration, stronger record-keeping requirements and shorter claim periods. These are indeed sensible reforms. Currently, providers and participants may claim over lengthy periods. Moving towards stronger record retention and shorter claim windows can support integrity, but integrity reform must go further. Public confidence in the NDIS matters. Australians expect that taxpayer money reaches participants, not opportunists, and right now there remain significant concerns about fraud, exploitation and inappropriate claims across parts of the NDIS.”
“Specialist access remains difficult. GP availability remains stretched. We cannot simply move pressure from one system into another and pretend that that constitutes reform. The states simply cannot accommodate that and are certainly not ready for it. We are hopeful that participants with permanent and significant disabilities are not forced to repeatedly prove conditions that are already permanent. People should not have to relive trauma or spend thousands obtaining reports to establish facts that are already known. The government must apply common sense—the very thing, I'm afraid to tell Australians, it lacks. Let me be clear. There are other elements of this bill that the coalition support. We support stronger safeguards. We support improving integrity.”
“The government says implementation will not occur until 1 January 2028. If that's the case, then I say to the government use that time properly to consult, test, refine, listen. Use the time wisely, because Australia cannot take any more broken promises and rushed implementation from this government. There have been a plethora of broken promises from this government, and Australians have now had a taste of what that actually looks like and how it hurts their back pocket. The bill also proposes reassessment of existing participants over several years, and that means hundreds of thousands of Australians potentially entering the reassessment process. We must ask: What happens if people lose access? Where do those people go? State health systems are already under immense pressure. Hospital waitlists continue to grow.”
“Under these reforms, greater emphasis will be placed on functional capacity. Now, there may be merit in moving towards assessments that better reflect a person's actual support needs. The problem is that the legislation establishes the mechanism but the government has not yet developed the actual assessment model. As usual, they put the cart before the horse. People are being asked to trust a process that does not yet exist, and families are asking, rightly: 'Will my child still qualify? Will my loved one lose supports? What evidence will be required? Will people need expensive reports? Will reassessments become endless exercises in bureaucracy?' And today there are not enough answers. Changes of this magnitude must be consulted on properly. Participants deserve certainty. Providers deserve certainty. Families deserve certainty.”
“Now in its fourth year, the summit brings together young people from across the Gold Coast to encourage leadership, aspiration and connection. Tilly has contributed multiple times to the event, because she's part of the rich diversity that makes our community that much stronger. Tilly and her very special family receive NDIS support, and that is indeed entirely appropriate for Tilly's needs. The NDIS is enabling Tilly and the 4,000-plus other participants in Moncrieff to live dignified lives and contribute to our community, and our community is better for it. People are understandably anxious about some of the changes that are proposed in this bill. One of the most significant changes is the establishment of a new framework to assess eligibility for support. Historically, access has largely been linked to diagnosis.”
“Scrutiny matters and implementation matters, and they, of course, are the two biggest weaknesses of this government, because the success or failure of these reforms will ultimately be judged not by the press releases but by the experience of the participants. In my magnificent electorate of Moncrieff I've seen firsthand the difference the NDIS can indeed make. Earlier this month I had the privilege of spending time with 18-year-old Tilly. Tilly lives with disability. She uses a wheelchair and requires full-time medical care. But Tilly is far more than her diagnosis. She's a young woman with ambition. Tilly's as bright as a button. She's building friendships. She has dreams for her future. She's living her life to the full. Earlier this month, Tilly attended our IMPACT Gold Coast Youth Summit, alongside her carer.”
“Then the minister announced the government would seek to reduce growth to between five and six per cent over the medium term. Again, that target was not achieved. Growth is now sitting above those ambitions. So this bill becomes another attempt to control a system the government has struggled to manage. It's out of control, just like the government's loss of control when it comes to our economy and the budget. While we support reforms where they improve integrity and strengthen protections, our concern is simple: Australians with disability cannot become collateral damage in a race to repair the government's budget position. That is why scrutiny matters, and that is why implementation matters.”
“If the scheme is not sustainable, it cannot continue delivering for the people who rely on it most. Today, the NDIS supports more than 760,000 Australians. When it was originally designed, the expectation was approximately 410,000 participants. The scheme was initially estimated to cost $13.6 billion. Today, that figure sits at around $50 billion annually, and it is projected to reach approximately $70 billion by the end of the decade. That trajectory is not sustainable, and that reality cannot simply be ignored. But what concerns us is that this legislation represents the government's latest attempt to manage growth in the scheme after repeated failures to meet its own targets. In April 2023, the Albanese government committed to reducing annual growth in the scheme to eight per cent. That target was missed.”
“This debate matters because behind every policy, every budget paper, every legislative amendment and every statistic are real Australians and real families—people who rely on this scheme not as a luxury but as a lifeline. The coalition has always supported the National Disability Insurance Scheme. We support the principle that Australians with significant and permanent disability should have access to the supports they need to live fuller, more independent lives. That principle has not changed. There should always be a national disability insurance scheme for those who need it, and that scheme must also be financially responsible and operationally sound for the decades ahead, because sustainability and compassion are not competing objectives; they depend on one another.”
“I rise today to speak to the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026. I wish to acknowledge and thank the extraordinary individuals across our country, across our great land, who dedicate their lives to supporting people living with disability, including those across my community on the Gold Coast. To the carers, support workers, allied health professionals, educators, therapists, medical specialists and the families and informal carers who show up every single day, thank you. You are helping our community's most vulnerable to live with dignity, independence and opportunity. We are a better nation because of you.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Aaron has written in about how Labor's tax changes will affect him. He says: 'I'm 39 and am supporting a young family with two children. I've been carefully investing in various high-growth assets over the last 10 years so that we may one day afford the Australian dream—our own home. These tax changes will be a disaster for families that have been building on a set of rules that are now being rug pulled.' Prime Minister, why is Labor's budget of broken promises and higher taxes punishing Aaron and his family, who are just trying to get ahead?”
“While Australians can't pay their bills, this government is addicted to taxing and spending. 'Taxing and spending' should be the budget headline. Because this government is appalling at economic management, younger Australians will pay the debt bill for their lives and for their children's lives. What about the no changes to the coalition's stage 3 tax cuts promise we heard? Labor's changes to that promise are causing bracket creep and costing workers $440 next year. This is what Labor does. It takes $440 from you in one hand and promises to give you $250 in the other. They call that cost-of-living relief they've rescued you with, when they are the ones who caused it. What a con! What a joke!”
“After four years in office, this government has a trail of broken promises in its wake. Now its only remaining playing card is pitting young Australians against older generations—telling young Australians that, if the government taxes older Australians more, miraculously more houses will be available and younger Aussies will suddenly be able to afford one. It's this government that has lost control of the economy and inflation. It's not the war, as the Treasurer will tell you. It is this government that has caused higher inflation, which has pushed up house prices. It is this government that has pushed up energy prices by 32 per cent and pushed up interest rates 15 times. Australia has had the largest fall in living standards and has the highest inflation rates in the developed world.”
“If we truly want better income for authors, we must be honest about what it will take. It will take sustained investment, it will take clear and effective policy, and it will take a government that prioritises outcomes over announcements. Yes, the coalition supports these bills. They are sensible administrative reforms that modernise and strengthen important programs. But we should be clear about their scope. They do not increase funding, they do not change payment calculations and they do not, on their own, deliver better income for authors, and that remains the challenge for the government to address. Debate adjourned.”
“The coalition would also like to support the lesser-known Australian authors who benefit from the scheme. For example, Jack Heath is a Canberran who attended Lyneham High School and has written a range of children's books such as the Spy Academy series and 300 Minutes of Danger . Books like these are in many school libraries, where he benefits from the Education Lending Right program. Jack also volunteers a lot of his time to appearing in schools, inspiring our young Australians to read and even become authors themselves. Jack, thank you for the work that you do. The coalition will continue to ask questions about funding, about delivery and about whether the government is doing enough to support Australian authors in a meaningful way, because governance reform is only part of the equation.”
“We see programs announced with fanfare but without the follow-through needed to make a tangible difference. This bill, while welcome, is not a substitute for a comprehensive approach to supporting Australian writers and the broader creative sector. Access to books through libraries and educational institutions is one of the great strengths of our society. It, of course, supports literacy, education and, indeed, opportunity. But that access must be balanced with fair compensation for the creators. That is the purpose of lending rights schemes, and that is why they are worth maintaining and strengthening. This legislation contributes to that objective by providing a clearer and more robust framework. For that reason, the coalition will support it, just as we have supported the program for decades.”
“These are measured administrative updates. The bill is not controversial, and it is not time sensitive. It is a practical piece of legislation that tidies up and strengthens existing arrangements. But, while we support the bill, we must also place it in its proper context, because authors across Australia are facing real challenges. They are dealing with rising costs, evolving publishing models and increasing competition in a global digital marketplace, and, for many, income from writing alone is not sufficient. Lending rights payments are an important supplementary income stream, but they are not a complete solution. That is why the broader policy settings matter, it is why funding levels matter and it's why delivery matters. Too often we see a gap between government announcements and real outcomes on the ground.”