The Federal Budget Reply

Last Thursday, Angus Taylor delivered the Coalition’s Budget Reply - laying out a clear plan to restore Australians’ standard of living and protect our way of life after three difficult years under Labor.

Australians know they are worse off. Families are paying more for groceries, electricity, insurance, rent and mortgages. Young Australians are being locked out of home ownership. Small businesses are struggling under rising costs and red tape. And hardworking Australians are finding that despite working harder, they are going backwards.

Labor’s Budget confirmed exactly why.

It was a Budget of broken promises, higher taxes, more debt, lower living standards and fewer homes for Australians and confirmed what we all know – the current Prime Minister is incompetent, a fraud and a liar.

Before the election, Labor told Australians they would not touch capital gains tax, negative gearing or family savings.  Now he is doing the opposite. Labor is coming after Australians with higher taxes on income, housing, savings, investment and small business. They have even hidden a 30 per cent death tax in the Budget.

This is what Labor does. They promise one thing before an election and do the opposite after it. Because Labor cannot manage money, they come after yours.

Under Labor, Australia has experienced the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have delivered permanent deficits and almost $1.25 trillion of debt - debt that Australians and future generations will be forced to repay. The yearly interest bill on that debt is projected to exceed $42 billion a year. That is money that cannot be spent on essential services, infrastructure or helping Australians get ahead.

This is not a plan for the future. It is an assault on aspiration. The Coalition believes Australians deserve better. That is why Angus Taylor’s Budget Reply outlined the Coalition’s plan for a fairer, freer and better Australia - a plan focused on lower taxes, stronger economic management, rewarding hard work and restoring aspiration.

A central part of that plan is the Coalition’s Tax Back Guarantee. This is generational reform. Under Labor, Australians are being punished by bracket creep - an unfair hidden tax where workers pay more tax simply because inflation pushes wages higher. When Australians receive a pay rise just to keep up with the cost of living, they should not be pushed into a higher tax bracket and taxed more as though they are genuinely better off. But that is exactly what is happening under Labor.

The Coalition will end Labor’s inflation tax by indexing income tax thresholds to inflation. From 2028-29, the Coalition will index the bottom two income tax thresholds to inflation, fully protecting around 85 per cent of taxpayers. From 2031-32, the Coalition will index the top two tax thresholds as well.

This means Australians will keep more of what they earn and will no longer be punished simply because prices have gone up. For millions of Australians, this will mean real and growing tax relief year after year. Unlike Labor, the Coalition believes if Australians work hard, they deserve to keep more of their own money.

The Coalition’s Budget Reply also outlined a major plan to restore common sense to migration and housing policy.

Australians understand that a country cannot sustain record migration without enough homes, infrastructure and services. Labor’s mass migration program has placed enormous pressure on housing availability, rents, roads, schools and hospitals. At the same time, Labor’s expensive housing bureaucracy is failing to deliver the homes Australians were promised. The Coalition’s plan is straightforward. Australia should only bring in as many people as it can properly house.

Under the Coalition’s Migration and Housing Pledge, annual net overseas migration will be capped in line with the number of homes Australia builds. If Australia builds more homes, migration can increase. If Australia does not build enough homes, migration must come down.

This will help put guard rails around an immigration system that is currently out of control and give the housing sector the opportunity to catch up.

The Coalition will also establish a $5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock up to 400,000 homes by funding essential infrastructure like roads, sewerage, water and utilities. Importantly, funding will go directly toward getting homes built - not tied up in Canberra bureaucracy.

The Coalition will also slash unnecessary building regulations that are driving up the cost of construction and making homes harder to build. We want younger Australians to once again believe that owning a home is achievable.

The Coalition also announced a plan to put Australians first by reserving welfare payments and future access to the NDIS for Australian citizens. Australians are generous people and we are proud of our social safety net. But Australians also expect taxpayer-funded benefits to support Australians.

Under the Coalition’s plan, future access to a range of welfare benefits and the NDIS will be limited to Australian citizens from 1 July 2028. Existing recipients will be grandfathered and humanitarian protections will remain in place.

This is about priorities. At a time when Australians are struggling with soaring living costs, housing pressures and declining living standards, the Coalition believes Australian taxpayers should come first.

The Coalition’s Budget Reply also outlined plans to strengthen Australia’s security, improve fuel security, back small businesses and restore responsible economic management.

The Coalition announced plans to boost small business investment by allowing immediate write-offs for assets costing up to $50,000.

It also committed to strengthening Australia’s national security with a whole-of-nation National Security Strategy and a commitment to increase defence spending to at least 3 per cent of GDP over time.

Importantly, every Coalition policy announced in the Budget Reply is fully offset over the forward estimates.

The Coalition understands that the best way to beat inflation is for government to control spending.

Labor’s answer to every problem is more spending, more bureaucracy and higher taxes.

The Coalition’s answer is lower taxes, stronger economic management and rewarding aspiration.

Australians are tired of being told to lower their expectations.

They want a government focused on helping them get ahead - not one making life harder.

That is exactly what the Coalition is offering. Angus Taylor also made clear that the Coalition will continue to stand up for mainstream Australian values and common sense.

That includes protecting women and girls’ single-sex spaces. The recent Tickle v Giggle decision confirmed that the law as it currently stands does not adequately protect single-sex spaces based on biological sex. Most Australians would find that astonishing. The Coalition’s position is clear: women and girls deserve safe spaces, private spaces and fair sport.

A Coalition Government will amend the Sex Discrimination Act to provide protections based on biological sex. This is not radical. It is common sense.

Australians are under real pressure right now. But there is another path. A path that rewards hard work, restores aspiration, strengthens our economy, protects our way of life and puts Australians first. That is the plan Angus Taylor outlined in last Thursday’s Budget Reply.

You can read/watch the full Budget Reply speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBG7RyLirNc