Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Topics: tax legislation; inflation; savings; artificial intelligence; cybersecurity; small business.

E&OE……………………..

Tim Wilson: The kinder, gentler parliament that the Prime Minister has promised is today being trashed by his Treasurer. Just before midnight last night, the Treasurer flagged a new tax bill that he hasn't flagged to the parliament, which is being introduced this morning. The Treasurer is now trying to bully the parliament into passing tax changes which have not been discussed by the parliament and have not been flagged or considered by the parliament. This is a very distressing trend. At every point, this government has taken no interest in democracy or standing up for basic processes. We saw that at the election when the Prime Minister and the Treasurer promised 50 times over they wouldn't introduce new taxes. Now they're doing so at five minutes to midnight and ramming them through the parliament today. We still don't know the details of it, and this is what's most distressing. The kinder, gentler parliament has already been suffocated by this Treasurer.

It's very important as well that we make sure we get the budget into a sustainable position, and most importantly, cease the active inflation agenda of the Albanese government. We now have the Reserve Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and of course, business leaders telling Australians what they are living, which is higher government expenditure continues to drive up inflation pressure, interest rates, and that's meaning that Australians are paying more on their mortgages and more at the supermarket and getting less. Yesterday we announced $31.3 billion of savings to make sure that we got the balance in a more sustainable trajectory, to make sure that we were backing Australian households rather than the Albanese government's solution, which is to stoke inflation, tax inflation, and then spend inflation in a vicious cycle that is making Australians poorer.

Journalist: Do you acknowledge you'll need further cuts than what was announced yesterday, and can you rule out cuts to Medicare?

Tim Wilson: What we've said consistently is we'll need savings to make sure that we get the budget back into a sustainable position and, most importantly, also that we stop inflation pressure. There's one thing that continues to eat into the sustainability of Australian households: increase their costs, increase their mortgage rates, and of course go on to the supermarket and pay more and get less, and we know that it’s the government's active inflation agenda, their spending, which is driving those things up.

Journalist: Would you cut Medicare?

Tim Wilson: That is not our focus. Our focus is on making sure we get the budget into a sustainable position, to get rid of housing bureaucracies that don't build houses, climate bureaucracies that don't cut emissions. We want to make sure that welfare is targeted to Australians who need support and assistance, not have welfare go to future non-citizens. Our focus is to build up the opportunity of Australia so that hard work pays off, Australians are in control of their lives, and there's a basic sense of respect from the government to taxpayers and to make sure that we have a united country.

Journalist: And if those tax cuts end up costing $200 billion over a decade, as some predict, obviously you'll need further savings. Is there anything specific you can point to that you'll cut?

Tim Wilson: Well, the Treasurer likes to come up with fanciful numbers based on what he wants to project. Let's be clear, the government has an active inflation agenda. They are stripping out the wealth of Australian households, and so if we keep going on the government's active inflation agenda which spends to tax to then of course go on and stoke inflation in a vicious cycle that makes Australians poorer, the share of Australia's income that's taken by tax will rise. Our objective is to defeat inflation. Our objective is to stop the Albanese government's active inflation agenda so that Australians are in control of their finances and hard work pays off.

Journalist: The Signals Directorate is warning that AI cyber-attacks will disrupt everyday life in Australia. Are you worried about the economic impact?

Tim Wilson: I'm very conscious of the economic and the security impact of technology, but what I'm even more concerned about is a lack of investment from industry super funds in their security services. Because they keep championing about how they're getting people to pay low fees, what they're underinvesting in is the security of Australia's retirement savings. Industry super funds are consistently compromising the security of Australian retirement savings simply so they can boast about low fees, and now they've been left exposed.

Journalist: And will the government, if you were opposition in government, would you legislate that they have to make amends to get the latest technology for those super funds to stop those potential catastrophes if they're hacked, and will you assist small businesses to upgrade their systems to protect against AI cyber-attacks?

Tim Wilson: We'll look at all measures to make sure that small businesses and of course super funds are protected, but this is an evolving situation, so it's difficult to commit to specific measures right now. What we need is guidance from the ASD, but more importantly, what we need is industry super funds to actually invest in their cybersecurity presence to protect the retirement security and retirement savings of Australians that they've left vulnerable. I'm sorry, I've got to go to a meeting. Thank you.

[ENDS]