Tony Abbott's Election Signals a Liberal Party Ready to Win

Last weekend’s Federal Council marked an important moment for our Party, with Tony Abbott elected as our new Federal President.

Tony is one of the great warriors of the Liberal cause. He led us back to government in 2013, stood up for mainstream Australians, and has never been afraid to fight for our values.

At a time when Australia needs strength, conviction and clarity, Tony will be an outstanding Federal President.

Federal Council was also an opportunity to chart our course forward and reaffirm the values that have always defined the Liberal Party: aspiration, opportunity, reward for effort, personal responsibility and a belief that Australians should be free to build a better life for themselves and their families.

The message from our Leader, Angus Taylor, was clear: Australia faces a fundamental choice.

On one side is a Liberal Party that believes Australians should keep more of what they earn, own their own home, start a business, invest for their future and pass opportunities on to the next generation.

On the other is an Albanese Labor Government that increasingly sees aspiration as something to be taxed, regulated and controlled.

The battle lines have been drawn.

Labor’s latest Budget is not simply another collection of spending measures and tax changes. It represents a direct assault on the values that have helped generations of Australians get ahead.

It is a Budget that punishes saving, discourages investment and makes it harder for young Australians to achieve the dream of home ownership.

For many Australians, the promise of our country has always been straightforward: work hard, take responsibility, make sensible decisions and you will be rewarded.

That promise is now under threat.

Australians were told they would be better off under Labor.

Instead, they have endured a collapse in living standards, soaring power bills, higher mortgage repayments and rising costs across almost every part of daily life.

At the same time, Labor continues to expand the size and reach of government.

Rather than trusting Australians, Labor wants government to play a larger role in every part of life.

Rather than empowering individuals, Labor increasingly believes government knows best.

Rather than rewarding initiative and enterprise, Labor prefers redistribution, dependency and control.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Labor’s new suite of toxic taxes.

The Government’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax strike directly at Australians who are trying to build financial security for themselves and their families.

These measures are not about fairness.

They are not about helping young people into housing.

They are tax increases, plain and simple.

The capital gains tax changes are particularly damaging.

For decades, Australians have been encouraged to save, invest and take sensible risks. Many younger Australians who have been locked out of housing have turned to shares, exchange-traded funds and other investments as a way to build a deposit for a future home.

Labor’s changes make that harder.

The Government is effectively telling Australians that if they work hard, save diligently and invest responsibly, they will simply be taxed more heavily when they succeed.

That is not fairness.

That is not aspiration.

That is a government pulling the ladder up behind it.

Small businesses, family farms and start-up enterprises will also be hit hard. These are the very people who create jobs, drive innovation and strengthen local communities.

Yet Labor continues to treat them as an easy source of revenue.

Across the country, Australians who have never previously engaged in politics are speaking out.

Young Australians worried about their future.

Small business owners concerned about their viability.

Families trying to get ahead.

They are all asking the same question:

Why is Labor making it harder to succeed?

Even now, the Prime Minister is talking about carve-outs and exemptions to parts of his own policy.

But carve-outs are not enough.

The problem is not the details.

The problem is the policy itself.

These toxic taxes should never have been proposed in the first place.

Labor’s toxic taxes need to be axed.

The Coalition’s alternative vision is fundamentally different.

We believe Australians should keep more of their own money.

We believe hard work should be rewarded.

We believe home ownership should once again be within reach of younger generations.

We believe government should live within its means rather than continually looking for new ways to tax Australians.

That is why the Coalition has proposed indexing income tax thresholds to inflation, ensuring Australians are protected from bracket creep and preventing governments from quietly increasing taxes through inflation.

It is also why we remain committed to restoring affordable and reliable energy, reducing red tape, backing small business and rebuilding the conditions for economic growth.

Economic policy is not simply about numbers on a spreadsheet.

It is about people.

It is about the young couple trying to save for their first home.

It is about the family business owner working weekends to keep staff employed.

It is about the farmer investing in the future of their property.

It is about the retiree who has spent decades building financial security.

These Australians deserve a government that backs them, not one that sees them as a source of ever-increasing taxation.

The choice facing Australia could not be clearer.

Labor offers bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation and fewer opportunities.

The Coalition offers aspiration, opportunity, lower taxes and a belief in the capacity of Australians to shape their own futures.

As Liberals, we have always understood a simple truth: when Australians are given the freedom to succeed, our nation succeeds.

That is why we must continue to make the case for a fairer, freer and stronger Australia.

The fight ahead will not be easy.

But it is a fight worth having.

Because Australia has always been at its best when aspiration is encouraged, not punished.

And because the dream that every generation should be able to build a better life than the one before it is worth defending.

Australia is worth fighting for.

And under Tony Abbott’s presidency, Angus Taylor’s leadership and with Liberals across the country united and determined, we will fight for it every single day.