Tuesday, 30 June 2026

Doorstop - Press Gallery, Parliament House

Topics: Widow's tax, small business, trusts, Liberal Party

E& OE.........................

Tim Wilson: Last night in the Senate, Labor and the Greens came together to protect the widows' tax against the promises that Labor took to pass its budget. What you saw in the Senate was another betrayal by the Albanese government against the Australian community. The Parliament passed the budget on the condition the widows' tax would go. Jim Chalmers and the Greens have stitched up a dangerous deal, and they're going to protect the widows' tax, which is designed to hit Australians who simply are grieving in their loss. There's a point where this government needs to fess up and tell us the details about this government's dirty deal, or dangerous deal, with the Greens. The government has played secretive every step of the way to pass their budget, and there's a point where they need to fess up and explain to the Australian people the details. We know now that one of the details is that they have supported protecting the widow’s tax. We know also that they continue to smash small business every step of the way. We know that small business is going to be harmed directly by the changes in trust laws. So, at every point, this government has been protecting high taxes against the Australian people. What we need is a clear difference for this country. We need new hope. We need one that ends Labor's corruption, stops Labor's inflation, and cuts Labor's taxes, and of course, backs small business so Australians can get ahead.

Journalist: Tim, does the Liberal Party need a rebrand?

Tim Wilson: The best word we have is "liberal" because it speaks to a sense of hope about the future, about an Australia where people are in control of their own lives, hard work pays off, and people feel a basic sense of respect. Australians need hope right now against the high-tax agenda of the Albanese government and those that want to divide us, which is both the Albanese government and One Nation.

Journalist: If liberal is such a good word, why do only 17% of Australians want to put a 1 next to it?

Tim Wilson: Because liberalism is not just an end in itself; it's an enlivening of how people can live out their best lives. It's about the sense of aspiration that people can look to the horizon, the blue liberal horizon of hope, with confidence about what they can build if they apply hard work paying off, people being in control of their own lives, and feeling a basic sense of respect, which they aren't getting from the Albanese government that wants to divide Australia, just as One Nation does.

Journalist: So, it's clearly not cutting through. And less than 20% of the country, less than one in five people, want to put the Liberals first.

Tim Wilson: I've said consistently there's a lot more work to do to build out the blue horizon of liberal hope where young Australians feel like they can get ahead, where hard work pays off, Australians feel in control of their lives, and most importantly, they feel a basic sense of respect, against the Albanese government that wants to divide Australians, just as One Nation does.

Journalist: Does liberalism also mean conservatism?

Tim Wilson: We're probably getting into a semantics of words, but absolutely, as you can now read my book The New Social Contract: Renewing the Liberal Vision for Australia, it talks about the fact that progressivism and conservatism are speeds. The choice is between a liberal democratic future or a social democratic future. I believe in the blue liberal horizon of hope. I believe in an Australia where Australians feel hard work pays off, Australians are in control of their own lives, and Australians feel a basic sense of respect in comparison to the Albanese Labor government that wants to divide Australians, and of course, One Nation that also wants to divide Australians. We need a pathway forward that unites Australia and takes us forward together.

Journalist: Is Andrew Hastie right to declare war on One Nation, in his words, he talks about working more closely with them as a sign of weakness.

Tim Wilson: What we need is to make sure that we're building out a blue horizon of liberal hope, one where Australians feel like they're in control of their own lives, hard work pays off, and there's a basic sense of respect, against an Albanese government that wants to divide Australians, and One Nation that wants to divide Australians. And let's be very clear about this: I believe in a united future for our nation, one where people feel in control of their own lives, hard work pays off, people feel a sense of respect, which is very different from an Albanese government that wants to divide Australians, and One Nation that wants to divide Australians.

Journalist: Do you think that a new leader for your party would help?

Tim Wilson: I think this is a complete distraction. We have an Albanese government right now that is protecting higher taxes on Australians, which they explicitly promised before the election they wouldn't introduce. And after, they're now ring-fencing to protect with dirty deals with the Greens. I think what Australians need now is clarity about what this government stands for, and we know it doesn't stand for trust, it doesn't stand for hope, it doesn't stand for aspiration, and it doesn't stand for hard work paying off, Australians feeling in control of their own lives, or a basic sense of respect. What the Albanese government wants to do is divide Australians, just as One Nation does. We need a united future for everyone.

Journalist: Do you need to change your messaging though? Because with respect, the message has not changed since Angus Taylor became leader, but the polling has gone down at least three points in most major polls. The message that Labor is dividing the country or has poor economic management has been the same, but it's clearly not working.

Tim Wilson: Well, it's not just about identifying the problem; it's also about pointing out what the clear solutions are. What do we want? We want an Australia where hard work pays off, Australians feel in control of their own lives, and of course, that they feel a basic sense of respect. And our policy, like our tax-back guarantee, which is focused on making sure when you work harder, you get to keep your money, like an instant asset write-off for small business that's at 50,000, which is reflective of modern economic conditions, is made permanent. Because we don't just want to end Labor's corruption, stop Labor's inflation, cut Labor's taxes—we want to back small business.

[ENDS]