Every Budget tells us what a government values.
This one tells young Gold Coasters they can work harder and still fall behind. It tells older Australians that after a lifetime of work, saving and contribution, they can be squeezed again. It tells small business owners, tradies and families that Canberra’s spending problem is now their tax problem.
Labor has fired the gun on intergenerational warfare.
For young Australians, the Budget means higher taxes, fewer homes, higher rents and more debt piled onto their future.
For older Australians, the hit is different but just as real. Many retirees on fixed incomes are already being squeezed by rising private health premiums, higher insurance, power, health and grocery bills. Now Labor is finding new ways to reach into savings, aged care and family planning, including sneaky GST changes to aged care fees and a death tax by stealth on testamentary trusts. These are not taxes on the wealthy. They are taxes on people who worked, saved, planned carefully and hoped to leave something behind for their children and grandchildren.
That is how Labor pits generations against each other. Young Australians are told older Australians had it too easy. Older Australians are told they must pay more after a lifetime of contribution. Meanwhile, the real cause is left untouched – a government that cannot control spending, cannot build enough homes, cannot manage migration and cannot leave Australians’ savings alone.
Here on the Gold Coast, we can see the consequences clearly.
A young couple in Robina or Varsity trying to buy their first home is not helped when government keeps driving up construction costs, including through more than 2,000 pages of building code. Radical changes in 2022 required all new homes to meet energy efficiency and accessibility standards, which added up to $70,000 to the cost of a new home. A renter in Palm Beach or Burleigh is not helped by these sorts of policies that push houses and rents higher. A retiree in Coolangatta or Currumbin is not helped by rising private health premiums, aged care costs, insurance, power and grocery bills. A small business owner in Tugun, Mudgeeraba or Burleigh is not helped by more tax, regulation and uncertainty.
The Budget is not just numbers on a spreadsheet. It is pressure around the kitchen table, home ownership drifting further away, and the pensioner thinking twice before turning on the air-conditioning.
Because Labor cannot manage money, it is coming after yours.
Australians are facing higher taxes, more debt, lower living standards and fewer homes. Labor’s capital gains tax changes are not harmless accounting measures. They are taxes on aspiration, punishing the habits Australia should reward: working hard, saving, investing, taking a risk, buying a home and building a business.
Aspiration is not an abstract slogan. It is the story of families like mine, and of the Gold Coast.
My father was a tradie. My mother was a public servant. They worked hard, took risks, invested in property and small business, and stood on their own two feet. They did not ask government to clear every obstacle from their path. They asked only for the chance to work, save, invest and build a better life for their children. We were optimistic because we believed in effort.
Too many young people study, work and save hard, only to find home ownership closed off. Too many older Australians who did the right thing are treated as a revenue source. Too many small businesses carry the weight of a government that spends first and thinks later.
A serious government should unite generations around a shared national purpose: leave the country stronger than we found it. Labor, through this Budget, is doing the opposite, asking workers to pay more tax, taxpayers to carry more debt, and older Australians to absorb more pressure after a lifetime of contribution.
That is not responsibility. It is political cowardice dressed up as compassion.
The Coalition alternative is different. We believe government should enable Australians to rise, not replace their initiative with bureaucracy. We believe the economy grows when small businesses invest, families keep more of what they earn, homes are built, spending is controlled and effort is rewarded.
That is why Labor’s toxic taxes need to be axed.
The Coalition’s Tax Back Guarantee would end bracket creep by indexing income tax thresholds to inflation. If your wage rises just to keep up with prices, government should not tax you as though you are better off. This is generational tax reform.
Our Migration and Housing Pledge would link migration to the number of homes Australia actually builds. The Gold Coast knows what happens when population growth runs ahead of housing, roads and services. We feel it on the M1, at Exit 82 in Robina, in rental queues, and in pressure on local infrastructure.
Our plan would back small business with a permanent $50,000 instant asset write-off. That matters in a city built by tradies, tourism operators, cafes and entrepreneurs.
And our Future Generations Fund would bank resource windfalls in a sovereign wealth fund to pay down debt and build nation-building infrastructure. That is the difference between managing decline and shaping destiny.
The Gold Coast does not want resentment between young and old. We want shared opportunity.
We want young Australians to believe hard work can still lead to home ownership. We want older Australians to know their savings and security will be respected. We want small businesses to grow, hire and invest with confidence. We want infrastructure that keeps pace with growth, including heavy rail to the airport and practical fixes for congestion around Robina and Varsity.
That is the Australia I believe in. It is the Australia my parents believed in. It is the Australia the Gold Coast was built on.
Labor’s Budget divides Australians into groups to be taxed, blamed or bought off. The Coalition vision is simpler and stronger: restore living standards, reward hard work, build more homes, back small business, control spending and leave the next generation stronger than we found it.
The Gold Coast was built by people who backed themselves.
Canberra should be backing them too – not taxing their future away.
