Tuesday 30 June 2026
Leon Rebello: Last night Labor failed a simple test. They voted to increase taxes on widows and divorcees. That should tell Australians everything they need to know about this lying and incompetent government.
Journalist: Should they amend that immediately?
Leon Rebello: Absolutely. The Coalition put forward amendments, which I understand were voted down in the Senate. But this goes to something much more important – Labor clearly didn’t understand the consequences of its own budget, and that’s deeply concerning.
Journalist: The Government is talking about potentially addressing it through future changes. Is that enough?
Leon Rebello: They keep talking about carving things out, changing things and fixing things. There’s no substitute for removing these toxic taxes and axing them right from the beginning. The problem is they’re now trying to backtrack and patch over the holes in a bad budget.
Journalist: Auction clearance rates have fallen to around 40 per cent. Is that because of interest rates or the budget?
Leon Rebello: People across my electorate on the Gold Coast – but also around the country – are losing confidence. There is so much uncertainty in the business community also in the home ownership market for people looking to buy homes. So I’d say absolutely this government is to blame for a lot of that uncertainty.
Journalist: One of the things the Greens are going to put up, potentially, is for teens to be paid super. Is that something the Coalition would support?
Leon Rebello: Well look, I need to, as is always the case with Labor and the Greens, I need to look at in more detail because the devil is always in the detail. And what I’d say is that Labor and the Greens have already done a deal when it comes to getting these taxes through the Parliament, and Australia is a worse of place for it, so always very reluctant to take advice from the Greens.
Journalist: In principal though?
Leon Rebello: Well, I need to see what it looks like.
Journalist: Leon you live on the Gold Coast, an area where the Liberal Party brand is still quite strong in Queensland. Does the party need a rebrand like Melissa McIntosh said, or is Tony Abbott right that things are alright as it is?
Leon Rebello: No. The Liberal Party can look to how it sells its message, and we can be more effective in the way we sell our message, but our values shouldn’t change. Our values have stood, not only the Liberal Party, but our country, in good stead for a long time. Personal freedom, the rule of law and reward for effort. Those sort of things are timeless. We can look at how we sell a message, but we are a very proud party. We’ve got a long history and I’m very proud to be in the Liberal Party. I don’t think there be any change.
Journalist: What’s the best way of tackling One Nation?
Leon Rebello: We need to better sell our message, and I think we need to be effectively saying to Australians, and I think Australians are starting to realise this, and I see that in my electorate, that we are the only party that can get rid of this incompetent Labor Government, which is what people are wanting us to do.
Journalist: The polls aren’t looking particularly strong.
Leon Rebello: Well, I think, you know we’ve had a leader who’s been in for less than six months. We’re two years out from an election, it’s very early days. I’m also not one to trust polls, I saw polling before the last election – the results were very different.
E&OE
