TRANSCRIPT – ABC RADIO GOLD COAST

Angie Bell MP
Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education
Shadow Minister for Youth
Federal Member for Moncrieff

TRANSCRIPT
ABC RADIO GOLD COAST – MORNINGS WITH SARAH CUMMING

28 February 2024

Subjects: Stage three tax cuts passing; Scott Morrison’s valedictory speech; Help to Buy.

E&OE…………………………

SARAH CUMMING:
The Federal Government’s overhaul of the stage three tax cuts have passed the Senate. The changes aimed to broaden the benefits of the original tax cuts halving the tax break offered to wealthier Australians but bolstering the benefit for those on lower incomes. Federal Member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell joins you on the phone this morning. Hello, Angie.

ANGIE BELL MP:
Good morning Sarah, and good morning Gold Coast.

SARAH CUMMING:
Let’s have a listen to what the Prime Minister had to say about these tax cuts this morning.

GRAB:

Anthony Albanese:
This is about a tax cut for all 13.6 million taxpayers. It’s a good day that they’re going to not miss out as they were under the old Liberal plan. Everyone will benefit those low income workers earning under $45,000 will now get a tax cut. They were going to miss out completely. And average workers will get double the tax cut of what they were going to get if you’re a family with mom and dad working earning the average which is around $130,000. You were going to get $1,000. Now you’ll get $2,600. That will make a substantial difference. And it will be good for the economy as well. Treasury estimates that this will increase workforce participation by some 930,000 hours and that will make a difference because we know there are skills shortages out there as well. So, it will assist business. It’s good economic policy. It’s good for the family pocket, and it will make an enormous difference and we’re very proud of the changes and it’s good that they are now passed into law.

SARAH CUMMING:
That is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking a little earlier this morning, Angie, what’s your reaction?

ANGIE BELL MP:
I think that’s a very, very long grab Sarah. I’ll keep my response fairly short so we can talk about some other issues as well. But I think the Prime Minister left out that there were stage one and stage two tax cuts that the Coalition Government put in place and this was stage three of the plan that we had already started to roll out. Australians have to realise that what the Albanese Government did was scrap the $1,500 low-and-middle income money that came back as we all know, through our tax over the last couple of years where we received that extra $1,500. So, he’s taking away $1,500 on one hand, and he’s giving an average of $800 from the other. Australians know that this will only fix 10% of the cost-of-living increases that they’ve been under over the last few years or 18 months under Labor. So, you know, it’s again, it’s spin from Labor, they’re spending $40 million on their ad campaign for this and to put that into perspective, they’re only spending $14 million on food banks. That gives you an idea of, you know, the challenges that Australians are facing and how Labor are addressing those challenges.

SARAH CUMMING:
Anything that increases workforce participation, though, particularly on the Gold Coast, surely is good news.

ANGIE BELL MP:
We didn’t stand in the way of tax cuts because we want to see Australians helped through this cost-of-living crisis that the Labor government really has created. I mean, you know, inflation has stayed higher for longer (sic) and mortgages are up. We’ve had interest rate increases -12 of them in a row and the average family is paying about $24,000 extra a year thanks to this government. So, Australia’s need to look back to 18 months ago were they better off then or are they better off now? Life is certainly not easier under Albanese.

SARAH CUMMING:
Angie, if you thought the Taylor Swift references would be over now that she’s played her final Australian concert, maybe you weren’t ready for former PM Scott Morrison’s final speech to Parliament yesterday. The retiring Member for Cook made good on a promise not to his electorate but to his daughters as he stood to make a speech to Parliament. This is 16 years after he was first elected. I’m going to play another clip for you.

GRAB:

The Hon Scott Morrison MP:
As most people know subject only to God, my family is the centre of my life. And at the very centre of our family is Jen. I cannot imagine life without her. I love you Jen and always will. That is the cross you have to bear. Your love has been my stay in strength. You are the other half of our joined soul who by the grace of God, brought Abbey and Lily, our Miracle girls into our lives, who we celebrate and love. I thank Abbey and Lily for their own sacrifices as they’ve grown, necessitated by having a father in public life. They are beautiful girls in every way as you can see, and I could not be more proud of them as a father. They are our joy and our delight, and I am so pleased that we can now have the time that was necessarily denied us for so long. In preparing for this day, Abbey and Lily suggested that I should play a type of Taylor Swift bingo and I’m wearing the bracelet by the way – has ScoMo on it. They said by trying to work the names of every single Taylor Swift album into my remarks? Well, what’s a dad to do? Here I go.

SARAH CUMMING:
Angie, Taylor Swift bingo. Did you think you’d hear those words on the floor of Parliament yesterday?

ANGIE BELL MP:
Australians saw a softer side of ScoMo, as he’s fondly known. I thought his speech was poignant. I thought it was witty and I thought it was also wise. The girls and Jen and Scott’s mother also were in the chamber for his final speech yesterday. I wished them well personally and thanked them for their service to politics, and, you know, wish them well for their future. So, that was great. But Scott really, in the time that he led our country, he really did preside over some of the most difficult challenges as the Australian Prime Minister. Think back to COVID-19 and how difficult that was. I was in the party room when Scott made that decision and announced that decision that he would close the borders a few weeks earlier. That really did save lives and we have him to thank for that. Jobkeeper, also, I think was the signature policy of his and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg at the time, and that really did save 4 million jobs, and none more than on the Gold Coast where it was just so important for businesses on the Gold Coast. I think also when Russia invaded Ukraine, he immediately reassured the president of Ukraine, Zelensky, that Australia stood with the people of Ukraine – that was so very important. The biggest thing, his signature policy that he will be remembered for in the history books, was the AUKUS agreement between Australia, the UK and the United States. That will underpin our Defence for decades to come and he really does leave a strong legacy.

SARAH CUMMING:
What’s it like being in Parliament when someone delivers, a you know, a farewell speech like that. Does it just sort of feel different to any normal day in Parliament?

ANGIE BELL MP:
It does, because there are no interjections except for perhaps members having a chuckle. It can be an experience that’s quite emotional because you’re saying goodbye to a member who has served his country well, in this case, Scott Morrison, and you can find yourself tearing up at times.

SARAH CUMMING:
So, everyone plays nice?

ANGIE BELL MP:
Absolutely they do. Even the Prime Minister said some nice words and certainly Peter Dutton said some nice words as well.

SARAH CUMMING:
Some words probably, that people are not agreeing on in the political world are to do with the Help to Buy housing scheme. Now this is an issue today. The Greens threatening to sink the Help to Buy housing scheme with the government resisting negative gearing reform. The Prime Minister also spoke about this morning.

GRAB:

Anthony Albanese:
This is good policy. This is about helping people into home ownership and the Liberal Party and the Greens coming together in a No-alition. Just saying no to everything. They will have to be accountable for that. But we’ll put our legislation will be voted on in the House of Representatives today. Then it will go to the Senate. It will be voted on there. And it should be supported on its merits because it’s good policy.

SARAH CUMMING:
Angie Bell, will it be support it or will you be the no-alition?

ANGIE BELL MP:
No, we won’t support this. It’s bad policy and we have a responsibility to the Australian people to oppose bad policy. It’s already failed to deliver Help to Buy. It’s 20 months late. This was an election promise and they’re only just passing this legislation now, number one. Number two, is who wants to own a property with the government and what are the rules around that? So, if you go over the threshold of what you’re allowed to earn as a recipient of one of these homes, then what happens when you sell it? There’s a 40% tax that the government then takes back off you which is pretty much an extra tax that you have to pay. So, this is not good policy. The Coalition of course, is going to oppose it. There are better ways to use $5.5 billion, which is what the government will have to borrow to deliver this scheme. I think the Home Guarantee Scheme was a much better a policy option from the Coalition’s point of view. It was a 2% or 5% deposit, and we delivered 60,000 homes under that policy. Australians want to own their own home. They don’t want the government to be an equity holder, a stakeholder. And the other thing is the risk of prices of homes going up because of it. There are good intentions there, but bad policy.

SARAH CUMMING:
Certainly something we’ve experienced on the Gold Coast, that increase in property prices and many gold coasters struggling to get into the market. Angie Bell thank you for joining us this morning.

ANGIE BELL MP:
Always a pleasure, Sarah.

[ends]