Deputy Speaker, I move – That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following:
- the order of the day for the resumption of debate on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Bill 2026 being called on immediately;
- debate on the second reading of the bill continuing for a period of no longer than one hour;
- questions then being immediately put on any second reading amendments and on the second reading of the bill;
- consideration in detail then proceeding immediately, with the Leader of the Opposition being permitted to move amendments which are not relevant to the subject matter of the bill; and
- any questions necessary to complete the remaining stages of the bill then being put immediately.
Deputy Speaker, yesterday marked 90 days since Labor’s bin fire of a Budget.
A Budget full of toxic taxes.
Taxes on housing, on savings, on trusts.
Taxes on shares, on crypto, on every asset class.
Taxes on aspirational young Australians trying to build a nest egg.
Taxes on small and family businesses.
Taxes on farmers and charities.
And the cruellest taxes of them all:
A wicked tax on widows and divorcees.
What type of government thinks it’s acceptable to whack a tax on Australians who are grieving the loss of a spouse or a partner?
What type of government sees dollar signs when looking at someone who’s gone through a traumatic break-up?
What type of government is so desperate for money that it goes after Australians who are the victims of family and domestic violence?
I’ll tell you what type of government – a government that’s lost its moral compass.
A government so heartless that it goes after Australians who are heartbroken and hurt.
Deputy Speaker, the justifiable public backlash to Labor’s Budget is of a magnitude unlike any we have seen.
Australians are rightly calling it the worst Budget in living memory.
Labor’s Budget has blown up in their faces.
And don’t they know it.
That’s why they proposed carve-outs.
That’s why the Treasurer wanted extraordinary powers to make captain’s calls.
That’s why when the Treasurer appeared on the ABC’s Insidersprogram and was asked about his widow tax, he said he would “fix” it.
Well, more than 40 days have passed since the Treasurer made that promise.
And where’s the legislation?
There’s none to be seen.
Instead, the Government is doing a two-week consultation period before it brings forward any legislation.
Lazy Labor is doing the consultation now that it should have done before the Budget.
And all this procrastination and delay mean one thing:
The Government won’t fix its cruel widow tax until as late as September – or even October.
In the meantime, widows, divorcees, and victims of family and domestic violence will be hit by Labor’s toxic taxes.
We’ve already seen the ramifications of this tax.
News.com.au recently reported on the effects of the widow tax on 44-year-old domestic abuse victim.
The woman couldn’t refinance an investment property she co-owned with her ex-partner because of Labor’s negative gearing changes.
And that means she could lose a retirement asset she’s spent more than 15 years building.
The widow’s tax is unacceptable.
We’re not going to let Labor get away with it.
We’re not going to let this Government’s incompetence and inaction injure Australians one moment longer.
Deputy Speaker, today, we seek to suspend standing orders to force the Government to fix its Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Bill.
We want the widow tax gone.
We’re putting forward an amendment to the Government’s Bill to repeal Labor’s widow tax.
If the Government is serious about fixing the problem it has created, it should welcome our amendment today.
The widow tax can be scrapped in this sitting period.
And there’s no reason this mean-spirited tax shouldn’t be scrapped in this sitting period.
Deputy Speaker, we have another amendment too.
Under the Albanese Government’s watch, 30 businesses a day are going bust.
Small and family businesses are collapsing in record numbers.
They’re feeling the pressure that Labor has put on them on every front.
Higher taxes. Soaring energy bills. Choking regulation.
They need tax relief.
They need renewed confidence.
They need to be able to reinvest in their businesses which is also an investment in their communities and our country.
In the Coalition’s Budget Reply, I announced our plan to back small and family businesses – those with a turnover of under $10 million – with a permanent $50,000 instant asset write-off.
And so today, we also seek to amend the Government’s Bill to legislate our small business tax deduction.
Deputy Speaker, just as small businesses need tax relief, so do hard-working Australians.
Inflation doesn’t simply make prices increase.
When Australians’ wages rise to keep up with inflation, their income is creeping into higher tax brackets.
The higher inflation goes and the longer it lasts, the more Australians are paying in income tax every year through bracket creep, and the more the Albanese Government takes from Australians every year.
In the Coalition’s Budget Reply, I also announced our plan to stop Labor’s dishonest inflation tax.
We will index tax thresholds to protect Australians’ incomes from inflation.
A typical worker will be better off by $250 in year one, $500 in year two, $750 in year three, $1,000 in year four, and so on.
Our policy will give Australians a bigger tax cut each year than Labor without the tax increases.
It’s proper tax reform.
And so today, I call on the Government to support our Tax Back Guarantee policy.
Deputy Speaker, if Labor is for scrapping its widow tax…
If Labor is for providing small and family businesses with proper tax deductions at a time when they need it most…
If Labor is for providing every Australian with a bigger and better tax cut…
Then the Albanese Government will welcome this debate and agree to the amendments the Coalition has put forward today.
Everything we seek to do today is reasonable.
And the choices for the Albanese Government are simple:
Labor can act in the national interest – or remain stubbornly self-interested.
Labor can show some humility – or double-down on their hubris.
Labor can seek some redemption and fix their bad Budget – or fix nothing and face further condemnation.
Australians are watching.
