JIM CHALMERS:
I want to begin with a massive shout out to the Rochedale Springwood Lions Club putting on another citizenship ceremony on Australia Day. This is the 11th consecutive time I'll be presiding over the citizenship ceremony with the wonderful people of Rochedale Springwood Lions Club. Clubs and organisations all around Australia today are putting on citizenship ceremonies so we can welcome new Australians. It's one of the wonderful things about Australia Day, something that I look forward to and I know a lot of local communities look forward to, so I wanted to shout them out, the Lions Club, all the wonderful work they do here in our community and indeed around Australia as well.
I'm also here to talk about Labor's plan for bigger tax cuts for more people to help with the cost of living. When you look past all of the politics and all of the punditry, this is about one thing and one thing only - more help with the cost of living for more Australians. This is about a bigger tax cut for more people to help with the cost-of-living pressures that people are confronting. This is a tax cut which is better for middle Australia, better for cost of living, better for bracket creep, better for women and workforce participation, better for nurses and truckies and teachers and policemen and women, and better for the economy as well.
This is not about politics, this is about people. This is about coming to the right decision for the right reasons to help people who are doing it tough. And obviously, there will always be people who would rather play politics with an important decision like this rather than to focus on the substance of what it means for real people in real communities like this one. We will always get politics from Peter Dutton and Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor and their ilk - that's because they can't defend their position. Sussan Ley said earlier this week, she was asked, will the Liberals and Nationals roll back these bigger tax cuts for more people and she said absolutely. This just shows how diabolically out of touch the Liberals and Nationals are with the cost-of-living pressures being faced right around this country. We acknowledge that people are under pressure but more than acknowledge it, we are doing something about it. These are bigger tax cuts for more people to help with the cost of living. This is a situation where every Australian taxpayer will still get a tax cut but there'll now be a bigger emphasis on middle Australia.
Eighty-four per cent of Australians will get a bigger tax cut than in the tax cuts that Scott Morrison legislated five years ago. So, every Australian taxpayer gets a tax cut - 84 per cent of Australians get a bigger tax cut. Here in Queensland, it's even better. Queenslanders stand to be among the biggest beneficiaries of Labor's tax cuts. Here in Queensland, every Queensland worker will get a tax cut but 87 per cent of Queensland taxpayers will get a bigger tax cut. Here in my local community, where I was born and raised, where I grew up and where we're raising our family now, 90 per cent of people in this local community will get a bigger tax cut. Every taxpayer gets a tax cut. The overwhelming majority of Australians get a bigger tax cut as a consequence of the tax policy that the Prime Minister put forward yesterday.
It beggars belief that the Liberals and Nationals don't want middle Australia to get more help with the cost of living. It shows how diabolically out of touch Peter Dutton and the Liberals and Nationals are. This is not about politics, this is about people. This is about taking a difficult decision, but the right decision for the right reasons, putting the people front and centre, understanding the pressures they're under and doing something about it. The Liberals and Nationals want higher taxes on middle Australia to fund an even bigger tax cut for people on the highest incomes - that's their position. That's the position that Sussan Ley put forward. We have a different view. This is an opportunity to do the right thing by people, to give bigger tax cuts to more people, to help with cost-of-living pressures and that's what we'll be putting to the parliament. Peter Dutton and the Liberals and Nationals can choose between bigger, fairer, better tax cuts for more people or their current position which is higher taxes on middle Australia to fund an even bigger tax cut for people on the highest incomes already. Happy to take your questions.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, the cost-of-living pressures have been known for some time. Why has it taken this long for the Government to decide to make these changes?
CHALMERS:
Well, we've been rolling out substantial cost-of-living relief over the course of the first year-and-a-half or so of our Government. We've been rolling out energy bill relief, cheaper childcare, cheaper medicines, more rent assistance. In a whole bunch of different ways we have been rolling out cost-of-living relief throughout the life of our government. It became increasingly clear to us over the course of the summer that this was the best way to provide additional cost-of-living relief to more people in our community. These cost-of-living pressures are persistent, they are sustained. We understand that and that's why we are doing something about it. And that's why it is so disappointing, frankly, to see Peter Dutton play his usual nasty and negative and mindless politics when it comes to trying to help people with the cost-of-living pressures that they confront.
JOURNALIST:
The top tax bracket hasn't been raised for some time and because of these changes, won't be raised again. Do you see it raising any time in the foreseeable future?
CHALMERS:
Well, respectfully, that's not correct. The highest threshold in the tax system will be raised as a consequence of Labor's tax plan from $180,000 to $190,000. That's the first time that the top threshold has been raised since Labor was last in office. And so we are providing substantial tax relief up and down the income scale, but with a bigger emphasis on middle Australia. By putting the old $120,000 threshold back in at $135,000, by putting the $180,000 threshold up to $190,000, we are returning bracket creep and we are doing that in a way which recognises there's more than one way to return bracket creep. We are returning bracket creep where it matters most and where it hurts the most, which is in middle Australia. I think people who are making commentary today about bracket creep are really clutching at straws. They're looking for excuses to oppose bigger tax cuts for more people, and they're doing that for political reasons, not economic reasons.
JOURNALIST:
How robust were those discussions among the senior leadership about pushing forward with these changes, given that the government had been so adamant they wouldn't be changed?
CHALMERS:
Obviously, I don't get into discussions at Cabinet or the Expenditure Review Committee or the Ministry, but the government is as one when it comes to providing more relief to more people to help with the cost of living. Bigger tax cuts for more people in a way that still ensures that every taxpayer gets a tax cut. And the position that we have put forward is the right decision for the right reason. We understand that the politics of this can be contentious. We understand that this is a big call and a difficult call. We understand that there will always be people who will put defending the Coalition ahead of defending the interests of middle Australia - we know that and that's been the case before but our job is to do the right thing by people. I'd encourage the people of Australia to look past the same old politics and punditry and look at what this actually means for real people in real communities. And this means more help with the cost of living.
JOURNALIST:
Just on some other matters, if I can.
CHALMERS:
Sure.
JOURNALIST:
It's obviously Australia Day today and there will be a number of rallies around the country. Do you think the date of Australia Day needs to change?
CHALMERS:
No, that's not what we're proposing. We understand that Australia Day is difficult for some people and we respect that and we want to make sure that as we celebrate Australia Day, that we acknowledge that as well and I'll be doing that here at this citizenship ceremony. But we are not changing Australia Day, the date of Australia Day. We recognise that there are a range of views about this. We respect the different views that are held and we want to make sure that we mark this day in a respectful way.
JOURNALIST:
And just quickly, if I can, on the 60-day review of Olympic venues that the Premier has announced - one of the last venues that was put into that plan was a Logan stadium. Will you push back, or do you have any concerns that that Logan stadium may not go ahead as a result of this review?
CHALMERS:
No, I think it's important that the Queensland Government and the Federal Government, everyone involved in the Olympics, makes sure that we get it right. I think it was a wise decision, frankly, by the Premier of Queensland and his team to make sure that we're getting maximum value for money for the billions of dollars that both levels of government and local governments will be investing in the Olympic Games.
I'm really excited about the Olympic Games. I think it's going to be absolutely terrific for southeast Queensland, but for Australia more broadly. And I think part of getting it right means making sure we get the venues right, so I thought it was a very wise decision that Steven Miles took to make sure that we get it right, to work together to get it right, to get the right venues, to get the right infrastructure - that's a good thing and I think every Australian has an interest in making sure that we get that right. My colleagues Catherine King and Anika Wells and myself, we're prepared to do what we need to do to make sure we get maximum bang for buck, maximum value for money, so that we get maximum advantage from hosting this wonderful Olympic Games in 2032.
JOURNALIST:
If it's decided that that $7 billion intergovernmental agreement is not quite enough money, do you foresee the Commonwealth investing any further money, particularly, I guess, with that Brisbane arena that you've committed to fully funding?
CHALMERS:
I don't want to pre-empt any of those discussions. We'll obviously take very seriously the conclusions of the review that Steven Miles and his colleagues have commissioned. We'll take that seriously. We've obviously had discussions at our end - Catherine King and Anika Wells, myself, the PM - about the best type of contribution that we can make to the Olympic Games in Brisbane. The Federal Government is a huge supporter of the work of the State Government here and local councils. This is a big opportunity for Australia. We can't afford to miss it; we'll play our part in making sure we get it right.