Tim Wilson
Goldstein · Liberal Party · Australia
“Now, we see even more immoral leadership as the Prime Minister and his ministers refuse to audit whether federal money has found its way into the hands of organised crime through the CFMEU Labor cartel.”
“The silence that we heard from our prime minister and our national leaders every step of the way led to horrific incidents like, on 10 November, the protests at the front of Central Shule in Caulfield South in the Goldstein electorate. It led eventually to the most horrific terrorist incident on our most famous national beach.”
“The idea that you would put the social solidarity of the most marginalised section of our community on a ballot paper knowing it would fail is an abrogation of leadership and responsibility and something I do not think this prime minister will ever be able to shake.”
“I've recently been spending a lot of time thinking about what moral government is and what type of government seeks to divide citizens, feed corruption and break trust within the community. The short and sharp of it is that it's an immoral government.”
“But to engage in citizenship stacking, where they deliberately went around and targeted electorates and got people to become Australian citizens on the eve of a national poll, is absolutely disgraceful.”
“There is hope. We can have a moral government again that's focused on uniting Australians and building trust and taking Australia forward together. But the only way we can do that is by seeing a change of government and the end of the Albanese government.”
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“If we are to be the party of aspiration, we must always be on the side of the aspiring, which is always the next generation and new Australians, not entrenched interests. These are Goldstein's values and I know these are the values of our party's leader, and I thank her and appreciate her support today. Power is like the breath that sustains the nation's lungs. When at threat, the central organs breathe in power from the people to protect the whole. For 30 years, Australia has enjoyed a long exhale. But the internationalist era, with the confidence that nations would peacefully trade for the future advancement of humanity, has sunsetted. History has struck back.”
“I utterly reject the politics that infect too many from the extremities of all sides of the political and the corporate funded Independents, who all share a different vision anchored in the same idea: that we must stand for some but not for all. Our party's founder called these attempts to pit Australians against each other 'the false wars'. We are all Australians, and nothing is more corrosive to the Australian promise than people no longer believing sacrifice and effort will get them ahead. It is why the unapologetic pursuit of the next chapter of our nation's economic growth remains paramount. Because too many of those we need to create it are moving offshore and the only voices we hear feed resentment over how to carve up shares of a diminishing pie. It is particularly important for us.”
“I hear young adults questioning the value of their tertiary education and whether they'll ever be able to get ahead of their debt; whether young workers can afford rent, let alone save a deposit, and then pay off a mortgage and then have a family; whether they have the confidence to chance their hand to start a business or the space in their lives to invest in their community; and whether they stare down their retirement years with confidence. It is the threat of the slow erosion of trust in our institutions, our leadership and even in each other. I don't wear my faith on my sleeve, but the Good Book's insight that a house divided against itself cannot stand is truer today than ever.”
“It also does not want to live the failure of Canberra's leadership. From the threats of local crime, the rise of antisemitism, financial stress for families and small business, and limited access to affordable housing, Goldstein expects leadership. It believes in our country and wills its success. This is why I continue to want to represent Goldstein and give its values voice in this parliament, because when Goldstein's values influence Australia, we are a better nation. It is these values that are increasingly under threat. There is an undercurrent in our democracy where too many voters no longer trust the system is working for them. I hear this from Australians at all stages of life.”
“It believed in free people, their responsibility and their enterprise, and in respecting tradition and institutions that empower people, families and communities and small business to decide their own futures. That is an agent for progress because human advancement depends on rising living standards and stewards a clean environment to hand to future generations. And this was the promise of Goldstein. As the fourth generation of my family that has lived and worked within the community—it has always lived these values and been a forward-looking modern liberal community that has understood its responsibility to each other. Goldstein does not want Canberra to run it. But it does not expect Canberra to undermine it either, such as stripping out a hundred million dollars from local infrastructure projects, as occurred over the past three years.”
“They lived different lives, but the one lesson they shared was work, and this was the simple faith my siblings and I gained—that, if you worked hard, respected your neighbour, played by the rules and loved this country, you'd be rewarded with dignity, opportunity and the chance to live a better life. The Australian promise was a social contract that there was no entitlement but a fair go. It didn't mean choppy waters didn't come, but it meant that hope and aspiration should guide your decision-making and that the circumstances of your birth should not define the boundaries of your life. It was embodied in the ideals that Menzies described of his modern Liberal movement—that it was 'not the conservative party dying on the last barricade' but 'a lively mind and a forward-looking heart'.”
“The parliamentary party's job is to lead, and our people will follow if we fight for them when we give them something to fight for and when we are worthy of them fighting for us because we spirit them to a higher purpose of common destiny. To thrive once again, we need to see this moment as our gift, because it will mean we have reconnected and given Australians Liberal hope again. I did not grow up with a silver spoon, nor under a weatherboard and iron. I grew up in a household of publicans and small-business people. For my father, it was pulling beers, pushing a lawnmower, building fences and bagging the post. For my mother, it was also pulling beers, and cooking at a fryer and greeting at supermarkets.”
“What I am most proud of is that our Goldstein team did this together, because, with me as the community backed Liberal, we built a movement of 3½ thousand people that went from local cafes to our oversubscribed, 800-strong campaign launch to energise a community and defy political gravity—and many are in the gallery today. The victory in Goldstein is theirs. The azure-blue T-shirted volunteers armed with hearty smiles and passion carried me here. They have shown that the path back is not one our parliamentary team can take alone. It relies on rebuilding our movement in Goldstein, Wentworth, Mackellar, Menzies, Aston, Lyons, Dickson, Brisbane, Boothby, Curtin and right across the electorates of this country.”
“Three years ago, I read Doris Kearns Goodwin's Leadership i n Turbulent Times , and, yes, a young Teddy Roosevelt's wilderness years held lessons for building the foundations for future success. It started a journey that allowed me to be honest enough that, whatever the driver of our local defeat, there were still things that I needed to learn. It started with listening and it concluded with building. There were the usual noisy voices on broadcast platforms about what to stand for, but the true genius of Menzies was that he understood and started by standing for the forgotten people, and, from there, what he stood for followed. I found the real kernels were in the quiet conversations in pubs, in Pilates classes, in church halls and on the sidelines of Saturday sports, and this was embodied in every part of our local campaign.”
“It's the teachers like my husband, Ryan, who are inspiring a new generation to open their eyes to a better Australia and future every day. It is the story of millions, in Goldstein and elsewhere, who wake up each morning choosing to take responsibility so that tomorrow will be better for themselves and for others too. They don't want us to solve their problems, but they are counting on us to defend their agency. And, at the last election, we let them down because we were not the bold and courageous Liberals that gave Australians confidence to dare for a better future. Having lived my winter, it is clear my party is now facing its own. In grief, it is easy to seek out simple solutions when reflection is necessary.”
“It's the fuel of a young tradie, caffeinated to clock on at seven so they can surf by four. It's the sobriety of a new Australian nurse, late after sunset, so they can own a one-bedder and not face renting in retirement. It's the ambition of two young mates hawking a slice of their start-up to venture capital, in the hope that one day it will list. It's the risk of a CEO reinvesting to navigate competition because they understand change is the only certainty. It's the drive of a mum working in legal, while working from home on Fridays, so they can have independence and career. And it's the energy of her husband and his small business that sponsors the local netball team because his success is tied to a thriving community.”
“After the marriage law postal survey, the miracle victory and the Voice referendum, we were told electoral riches lay in new heartlands and we should abandon tradition. If you still believe this story, as the only Liberal MP for a city seat, and one of two in inner metro Australia, I have some magic beans I can sell you. I used to joke that Goldstein was a Liberal political island, except for about a kilometre of shared border with the electorate of Higgins. I now love that one kilometre. I now have to drive 50 kilometres to reach another Liberal electorate. It's simple: you can't multiply your vote by dividing Australians. It betrays Menzian liberalism because liberalism has no geography. Liberalism is the spark of aspiration that compels a young farmhand to milk cows before sunrise so they can save to own their own dairy farm one day.”
“But I'll let you in on a little secret: all the best people are—enough to return to this place. Perhaps I am the most appreciative. Uniquely, I am going to thank the people of Goldstein for their decision three years ago, and it is for one simple reason: it was an opportunity for growth. Now, before we go further, I'm quite happy for it to be a oncer. But, as my husband said on the Sunday morning after, 'You need to look at this as a gift'. So, when announcing I was re-contesting, I started by saying that, 'Defeat was a gift, and thanks to the community.' I meant it and, today, I confirm it and thank the former member, Zoe Daniel, for her service too. I recently said that I'm in the truth bomb phase of my career. For years, our movement has been sold a pup—that voters can be neatly sliced into electoral majority by design.”
“None of us wish to live a winter through sickness, family or relationship breakdown, financial loss or public humiliation, but, when these moments present themselves, our choice is only how we respond. To that end, in my first, first speech to the House, I uttered words that would stalk me: We know people sometimes fall down. That is why we respect the speed at which they seek to pick themselves back up. When my winter came, it was family, friends, community and professional support that cushioned, that humbled, nurtured and changed me. But we must also never forget that winter is followed by the hope of spring. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking up at the stars. I am not the first, nor will I be the last, member to have run and won, lost, and then lived. He's mad. He's stark raving bonkers.”
“Take two: honouring the trust afforded as the first to have retaken the same seat lost to an independent—the second chance given, a third term granted, and voters stepping forth to buck history. I give thanks by living out the commitment given nearly a decade ago: that the people of Goldstein know their community is not an inheritance, or a seat to be warmed; it is a trust to be earned in your service. Since last standing two sword lengths away in this chamber, I've lived a political winter. There are times when only the words of Kipling fit: … force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on'.”
“I understand that the government is involved in its little victory lap and crowing about their electoral success, but the reality of what Australians are living out there is very different, and it's time they woke up.”
“With so many small-business people—people who backed themselves in, who have sacrificed and saved to get themselves ahead—they are putting a family savings tax on unrealised capital gains that particularly hits small business and the assets where people have put them into superannuation. They are now going to attack the very basis on which people have sacrificed to be able to secure their long-term retirement. When you see those sorts of policies under an egregious attempt at revenue raising by the Labor Party, people know that, once it's applied to super, it will be ported over to other asset structures and other investments. People no longer have confidence that they will be able to invest in the future of this country and for themselves with confidence. That's what's at stake and that's what's on the line.”
“When we lose that spirit, that's when we see people no longer doing things like saving to buy their first home or seeking to invest towards going on and doing things like forming a family. Now is a critical moment. It is where people see that the chance, aspiration or dream for a better future for themselves is on the line. They are not living that. Of course, unfortunately, the Albanese government is not making that any easier in any of the policies that they are seeking to put forward. In fact, what they are doing is jeopardising the future. You just need to look at the family savings tax that nobody voted for at this election and they are now throwing on the table.”
“They need a sense of hope not just that their wages are going to increase but also that they're going to see a reduction in the costs that they are living with so that they can stabilise their household finances and also so that they can get ahead. That sense of hope that young Australians and families need right now is so important not just for what we are living with today but, more importantly, for the sense of aspiration and hope that Australians will have for the future. When Australians lose a sense of hope, they seek to live only for the moment and for today, and then they lose that sense of character, of putting our investment and our energy towards a better tomorrow.”
“That comes directly off the bottom line of household savings, so, as people work harder, they're falling farther and further behind. We see it at the supermarket every time we go and pay for simple groceries. I've never seen a time in the past—you might have seen it on momentary occasions. I remember going to the supermarket in the past after cyclones and picking up a bundle of bananas, and there would be a shock of $25 and have to put them back. You might remember some of those times yourself, Deputy Speaker Wilkie. But I've never seen a time in this nation's history where people have gone to buy food or groceries, ended up looking at a trolley and saying, 'I'm not sure I can afford that,' and had to put items back on the shelves, as Australians are doing right now. What Australians need now more than anything is a sense of hope.”
“We know that Australians are not living it because they are seeing real declines in their wages and in their household disposable income. There's a simple reason for that: not only are their wages not moving; in addition to that, they are seeing all their costs for their household increase. It is, of course, explicit with their energy bills. Everybody knows the reality when they pick up their electricity bill or their gas bill and have to deal with bill shock. But there has been nothing more explicit in the realities of what Australian households have dealt with than persistent and globally high interest rates. While the rest of the world has seen a decline in their interest rates, which has meant that inflation has come under control, Australia has consistently had persistent high interest rates in comparison to OECD countries.”
“It's a great privilege to speak on this motion because there is nothing more important to average Australians right now than their capacity to get ahead. There has never been a time in our nation's history where so many families have worked harder and tried to get ahead but are feeling like they are going backwards. While we hear the heroic and stoic rhetoric of the members of this government saying how Australians are doing better under this government, I say with genuine sadness that it simply doesn't stack up to the economic reality. Over the past three years, real household disposable income per capita has collapsed by 6.3 per cent. If you're going to see real wages improve, people have to be living it; you can't just say it with words.”
“More than anything now, we need confidence for the small businesses of this nation, and it comes from Canberra saying, 'We understand and will either get out of your way or back you every step of the way, because you are the employers of this country and the foundation of our economic success.'”
“When this Labor government puts forward a new tax that Australians simply did not vote—a family savings tax on unrealised capital gains that will directly attack and assault the assets that small businesses have put in their superannuation not just for security but as the basis for their confidence for their retirement in the long run, just as farmers have done and just as families have done—it means we now face a crisis where Australians no longer know where to turn or how to plan for their future. This family savings tax on unrealised capital gains is not just an attack on the well heeled, as the Labor Party would like to make it out to be; it is a direct assault on small businesses and those who are backing themselves to get ahead.”
“When they don't do that, consumers go and, of course, focus directly on the major supermarket chains where they need the bare necessities rather than on discretionary spending. As a consequence, small businesses suffer real and challenging realities around their cash flow, and they're just struggling to make ends meet. In addition to the financial pressure of how they're going to meet their expenditure today, so often—Deputy Speaker, as I hope you know—it is backed by the security of the mortgage often of their own home. But, even worse than that, so many small businesses in this country are not just the source of an income for small businesses today; they are also the basis of retirement security for tomorrow.”
“When industry does simple things, like try to look at pathways to actually pay their workers more or to get simplicity in the system so that they don't have to build out a HR department for a local milk bar or a small business that has two employees, the government's only solution is to slap them down and to make it clear that there is no pathway to simplicity in industrial relations laws without the backing of a union official to come and bully them in their workplace. This is the lived reality of so many small businesses in this nation today, and that is why we need serious change—because we have a problem, when I go and talk to small businesses, where there is a lack of aggregate demand and confidence amongst consumers to go in and spend with confidence.”
“More disturbingly, we have seen record small-business insolvencies in this nation right now, and we are facing a crisis for small businesses where nothing is going their way as a conscious decision of this government, whether it is the realities of rising energy prices that fall on deaf ears directly because of the consequences of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, whether it is the reality of the rising taxes at both a state and federal level or, of course, whether it is the realities that people are experiencing because of the complicated nature of industrial relations laws.”
“They don't ask much of government; all they ask is that the government backs them to be able to get ahead and do the work that they need to do. The challenge, since the election of the Albanese government, since 2022, is we have seen a consistent decline in the number of small businesses in this country.”
“When I think about the challenges small businesses face around Australia today, I think about how they start their day—people getting up with initiative and backing themselves; driving themselves to work, watching the petrol meter and wondering whether they're going to get themselves through and whether they're going to top up their fuel today or tomorrow because of the challenges of meeting the costs they confront; and getting into their shop, to their home family office or into some sort of warehouse they've converted to be the base for their stock and whether they're going to be able to pay for their wages and for the salaries for the people they employ. Every day in this country, small businesses face real and significant challenges to meet the stresses and to be able to back themselves and get ahead.”
“I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges 2.5 million small businesses have been abandoned by the Government; (2) notes the Government has: (a) achieved a record number of small business insolvencies this financial year; (b) done nothing to create an environment for small businesses to thrive; and (c) made it more difficult than ever to do business in Australia; and (3) calls on the Government to prioritise the problems facing small businesses by: (a) removing excessive regulation it insists on applying to small business; (b) scrapping its plans to impose a family savings tax on unrealised capital gains; and (c) backing small business to make it easier to employ Australians. Deputy Speaker Scrymgour, firstly, congratulations on your elevation to office.”
“Thank you, Speaker, and congratulations on your elevation to office. My question is to the Treasurer. On 28 February 2023, the Treasurer said that Labor's unfair super tax on unrealised capital gains would apply to 'around 80,000 people'. Does the Treasurer stand by that number?”