We will axe Labor's toxic taxes

Western Australia's mining industry is the engine room of Australia's economy. It generates the export income that pays our bills, the royalties that fund essential services, the jobs that support families, and the investment that underpins prosperity right across the country. Resources account for more than 60 per cent of Australia's export income. When Western Australia's mining industry succeeds, Australia succeeds.

That is why it was so significant when Labor Western Australian Premier Roger Cook travelled to Canberra to personally warn Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that Labor's capital gains tax changes would damage Western Australia's mining sector.

Unfortunately, Albanese wasn't listening. Instead of taking those concerns seriously, Labor pressed ahead with legislation that fundamentally changes the investment incentives that have helped make Australia one of the world's leading destinations for mining investment. It is another example of this Government putting ideology ahead of economic reality. The companies that will feel the impact first are not the large multinational mining houses. They are the junior explorers and small mining companies that are willing to take enormous risks to discover Australia's next generation of mineral projects.

Mining exploration is unlike almost any other industry. These businesses often spend years raising capital, employing geologists, drilling holes and proving up mineral resources before they earn a single dollar. Many never succeed. Some spend millions of dollars only to discover there is no commercially viable resource.

But occasionally one succeeds. That success creates new mines, thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in exports and enormous benefits for the Australian economy. The return comes through capital growth.

That is the business model. When Labor increases the tax paid on those capital gains, it changes the investment calculation for every person considering whether to back Australia's next mining discovery.

Capital is mobile. Investors do not have to invest in Australia. If governments make Australia a less attractive place to invest, money simply goes elsewhere. Canada. The United States. Africa. South America. Countries where governments understand that investment creates prosperity instead of treating successful investment as another opportunity to raise taxes. Exploration really is Australia's original start-up sector. It is built by entrepreneurs prepared to take extraordinary risks. People who raise private capital, head into remote parts of Western Australia and spend years searching for the next discovery. Sometimes they succeed spectacularly. Sometimes they lose everything. That is the nature of entrepreneurial investment. Labor's tax changes make that risk even harder to justify.

Sadly, this has become a pattern for the Albanese Government.

Before the election, Anthony Albanese repeatedly promised Australians that Labor would not touch capital gains tax. He repeatedly promised Labor would not touch negative gearing. Australians believed those promises. Then Budget night arrived. Labor abandoned those commitments and struck a political deal with the Greens to push through one of the biggest tax changes in years. The result is a package of toxic taxes that reaches far beyond mining. It hits Australians trying to invest. It hits Australians trying to build financial security. It hits Australians trying to start or grow a business. It even legislated the so-called "widow tax" - a measure strips away grandfathered tax arrangements simply because one spouse passed away.

Labor now says it wants to fix that mistake. But Australians should ask a simple question. If Labor knew the legislation was defective, why did it force it through Parliament anyway? Why did it refuse to fix the problem before passing the Bill? Why should Australians trust the very people who created the mess in the first place?

This week Labor faces a simple test. If it is genuinely committed to fixing the widow tax, it should support amendments the Coalition will bring forward. If it votes against them, Australians will know the promised fix was never genuine.

Unfortunately, Labor's tax agenda does not stop there. It is now coming after the trusts used by hundreds of thousands of Australian small businesses. Trusts are not tax loopholes. They are legitimate legal structures that allow family businesses, farmers, tradies, retailers and professional firms to manage risk, protect assets, plan succession and employ Australians. These businesses are already dealing with rising costs, soaring insurance premiums, higher power bills, weaker consumer confidence and increasing regulatory burdens. The last thing they need is another tax attack from Canberra.

This is not tax reform. It is a tax grab from a government that has run out of money after years of reckless spending.

Labor's broader economic record speaks for itself. Australians have suffered the largest fall in living standards in the developed world. GDP per person has gone backwards in 10 of the last 15 quarters. Inflation has remained too high for too long. Power prices have risen dramatically despite repeated promises they would fall.

Migration has surged while housing supply has failed to keep pace, putting enormous pressure on rents, house prices and essential infrastructure.

Instead of fixing these problems, Labor keeps reaching for higher taxes.

It taxes aspiration.

It taxes investment.

It taxes small business.

It taxes the very Australians who create jobs, build businesses and strengthen our economy.

The Coalition believes there is a better way.

• We believe Australians should be rewarded for taking risks, working hard and building something for their families.

• We believe small business should be encouraged, not punished.

• We believe investment should be welcomed, not driven offshore.

• We believe Western Australia's mining sector should be supported because its success benefits every Australian. That is why we will axe Labor's toxic taxes.

• We will restore incentives for Australians to invest, save and build businesses.

• We will cap migration in line with housing construction so Australia only brings in as many people as we can properly house.

• We will deliver affordable and reliable energy.

• We will back small business with lower taxes and less red tape.

• And through our Tax Back Guarantee, Australians will receive automatic tax cuts every year so inflation cannot quietly push them into paying higher tax when they are no better off.

Western Australians have always understood something fundamental. Prosperity is created by people willing to take risks, invest their own money, employ Australians and build industries that compete with the world.

It is not created by politicians sitting in Canberra deciding who should pay more tax. Australia cannot tax its way to prosperity. It can only grow its way to prosperity. That means backing the industries that have built this country. It means backing mining. It means backing exploration. It means backing small business. And it means backing the hardworking Australians who ask for nothing more than the opportunity to get ahead.

That is exactly what the Coalition will continue to do.