Andrew Leigh

Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost Of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024
Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost Of Living—Medicare Levy) Bill 2024
Second Reading Speech
House of Representatives, 14th of February 2024

More people working, more people earning more, more people keeping more of what they earn. That's what's happening with Labor's bigger, better, fairer tax cuts. These tax cuts are better for workers, better for women and better for labour supply. Despite all the hand-wringing from those opposite, in their guts, the Liberal and National parties will back these cuts. They'll do so because they know that 84 per cent of taxpayers will be better off. They know that the average taxpayer is getting double the tax cut under this plan.

All Australian taxpayers will get a tax cut on 1 July, and the top tax threshold will come down for the first time since Labor was last in office. Labor's bigger, better, fairer tax cuts are going to ensure that everyone gets a tax cut. Previously, those earning under $45,000—apprentices, childcare workers, hairdressers—were going to miss out. Now they too will get a tax cut. Treasury estimates that this will have a big impact on labour supply, twice the impact on labour supply as the previous plan. Our tax cuts will boost labour supply by nearly a million hours a week, the equivalent of 25,000 full-time jobs. Our tax cuts are better for women, with 90 per cent of taxpaying women getting a bigger tax cut under our plan. That means teachers, nurses, aged and disability carers and early childhood educators.

Treasury has been clear that our changes are broadly revenue neutral and won't add to inflation. Our changes will reduce inequality and they'll increase opportunity. We are engaging in serious tax reform. We're dropping two rates and lifting two thresholds. We're addressing bracket creep, and we're not just addressing bracket creep at the top; we're addressing bracket creep for low- and middle-income workers as well. Aspiration doesn't depend on your bank balance. There's this false notion out there that, somehow, aspiration has an income cut-off and there's only aspiration above that threshold. But we in the Labor Party know that aspirational families can be found in every postcode in Australia, in every community in Australia. That's why in every one of those communities, every taxpayer will get a tax cut. Under our plan, barristers still get a tax cut, but baristas get one too. Under our plan, CEOs still get a tax cut, but cleaners get one too. Under our plan, surgeons still get a tax cut, but security guards get one too. Tax reform doesn't have to just benefit billionaires, it can benefit battlers too. That's exactly what Labor's bigger, better, fairer tax cuts will do.