House debates

Monday, 12 February 2024

Bills

Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024, Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living — Medicare Levy) Bill 2024; Second Reading

8:26 pm

Photo of Aaron VioliAaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

it's easier to mislead them again and again. That's the question: what's next—negative gearing? We've heard, 'We've got no plans at this stage.' We've heard that script before. Will it be capital gains? 'There are no plans for capital gains.'

I'm nervous about this one, Member for Deakin. What about the family home? I stood in this spot last year in question time and asked the Prime Minister to rule out tax changes on the family home. It was worse than, 'No plans'. He didn't rule it out. He had three minutes to rule it out, to say, 'No, no plans,' and mislead the Australian people again. He wasn't prepared to do that. So, if he wouldn't even mislead us on the family home in question time, what's next? Franking credits? Superannuation? He's already broken his promise with the superannuation changes last year. Is there a death tax coming? Is there a tax on retirement? We don't know, but we know there are more taxes coming, because this government has to find money for its tax-and-spend agenda.

We've already seen the NDIS continue to go up and up, and the minister has said publicly that the reductions that they're looking for are a guide, a recommendation, and that it doesn't matter if we don't get to those. I know the Treasurer would agree with him, but I'm sure they can find some taxes to cover those increased expenses.

My community knows that this isn't the first and it won't be the last broken promise from this Prime Minister. When he was the shadow minister for infrastructure in 2019, he committed to a 10-year program to seal 150 kilometres of dirt road in my community. That program had bipartisan support for a 10-year program, and, in the first four years of that program, funded by the coalition, it was being delivered on time and on budget. It was saving lives. It was making it easier for residents, for businesses, for school students and for communities, getting rid of the days of the dust and the potholes in our community.

But this Prime Minister broke that promise as well. He pulled that funding. He pulled $100 million from my community to seal those roads so he could put it into Suburban Rail Loop, his own passion project with the then premier Daniel Andrews. It is a disgrace that he broke his promise on the tax cuts and that he's ripped that money out of my community.

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