Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Curtin for this motion. I see this as a place where we get to contest ideas, and I think the 47th parliament is a better place because of the discussions that we have here. I agree that the Australian tax system is not fit for purpose, but we are in the midst of making amazing reforms. If I reflect on the system we inherited when we took government, we had a trillion dollars worth of debt, we didn't have any plans and there was no productive work being done. Essentially, what we had was a wasted decade.

Since we have taken office, we have tried not to waste a single day. We have been working on different tax initiatives. One of the things I heard when I would speak to people in my electorate during the election campaign was about making sure that multinationals pay their fair share, and that's something that we haven't seen happening. The truth is, when we have these large corporations that come here and make lots of money off us but then have clever—I would describe it as 'unjust'—tax systems where they get this advice and basically restructure their business so they aren't paying their fair share, I see that as incredibly unfair. It's important that if people come to do business in Australia then they need to recognise that they need to contribute to the cohesiveness on this country and pay their fair share of tax.

We have also seen changes to our electric vehicle policy. One of the things that we do recognise is that we are participating in a decarbonised economy and we need to do act quickly. One of the things that we can do to help achieve this is to have a look at the way we encourage alternative technologies such as electric vehicles. The petroleum resource rent tax—the thing I would say about our resources is our resources are owned by all Australians and I think that is something we sometimes forget as Australians. These are things that are owned by all of us. Sometimes when we have these companies take over, it is almost like the perception is that they own the resources but they do not; we all own them. The thing we need to ensure is that it is taxed fairly. We are in the process of changing the petroleum resource rent tax and we will see revenue increase from that.

But the biggest and most significant reform is around our stage 3 tax cuts. This is a significant reform and was, really, what needed to happen at this moment in time. In our communities, we know that cost of living has been at the forefront of people's minds. I know people have been doing it really, really tough. What we needed to do was not only look at what we can do at this moment in time to ensure we are giving cost-of-living relief to as many people as possible but also look at a way in which we don't increase inflation in the economy. I think it is wonderful that this government has restored faith in the Public Service, that we see the Public Service as frank and fearless and that we actually listen to advice.

From discussions we have had in this place, the 47th Parliament, I would like to think, has stepped up and actually listened to what Australians want. I am really excited that 84 per cent of all Australians will get a bigger tax cut because of the changes Labor proposed. Ninety per cent of women will be better off; 98 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds will be better off. In my electorate of Swan, 77,000 taxpayers will get an increased tax cut. This is phenomenal.

But this is not just about the 77,000. The truth is, in my electorate, everyone, approximately 94,000 people will get a tax cut, so I think this is an amazing thing we are seeing. The truth is Morrison's and the Liberals' previous stage 3 tax cuts were simply unfair. If I think of the country that Australia is, it is that we want to make sure we see fairness in our tax system. We need to continue to think about things like intergenerational equity. I am really excited about what is about to come through and I look forward to working across the House to do amazing things for our country.

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