WIDOW TAX
SENATE

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

**Check against delivery**

E&OE……………

Labor had a simple test this week.

A simple opportunity to do the right thing.

To protect widows.

To protect divorcees.

To protect Australian families during some of the hardest moments of their lives.

They failed.

Instead, Labor voted for higher taxes.

That tells Australians everything they need to know about this government.

They say they’re the party of compassion.

Their actions tell a very different story.

They promised lower taxes.

They delivered another tax grab.

They call it reform.

Australians know exactly what it is.

Another toxic tax.

Another broken promise.

Because Labor can’t manage money…

They’re coming after yours.

They tax work.
They tax savings.
They tax investment.
They tax aspiration.

When a husband loses his wife…
Labor sees another tax bill.

When a wife loses her husband…
Labor sees another tax bill.

When a marriage breaks down…
Labor sees another tax bill.

These are not loopholes.

These are life events.

There is nothing sophisticated about losing the person you love.

There is nothing aggressive about trying to settle a family estate.

There is nothing unfair about wanting to pass on what you’ve worked for.

Australians should not be treated like cash cows.

No Australian chooses to become a widow.

No Australian plans for their marriage to end.

These aren’t tax avoidance schemes.

They’re moments of grief.

Moments of uncertainty.

Moments when families are trying to rebuild their lives.

Those are the moments when government should show compassion.

Not send another tax bill.

Government should stand beside Australians in their darkest moments.

Not stand there with its hand out.

Grief should never become a revenue stream.

That is why this tax is so profoundly callous.

It punishes Australians who have already been dealt one of life’s toughest hands.

And why?

Because this government cannot control its own spending.

Because it is hurtling towards a trillion dollars in debt.

Because governments that run out of money always come looking for yours.

That is the story of this government.

Every problem has the same answer.

Another tax.
Another excuse to punish Australians who have worked hard…
Another way for Labor to cover up its own failures.

Today it’s widows.

Tomorrow it will be family businesses.

One by one, Labor is coming after Australians who have done the right thing.

The day after that…
Who knows?

Because this is bigger than one bad law.

It is a pattern.

A government that taxes work.
That taxes savings.
That taxes investment.
That taxes aspiration.

And when it runs out of places to tax…

It taxes grief.

Labor says it will fix this later.

That is simply not good enough.

Australians don’t expect Parliament to pass bad laws and promise to clean them up afterwards.

They expect us to get them right before they become law.

That is the standard Australians deserve.

If you know legislation hurts widows…

If you know it hurts divorcees…

You don’t pass it.

You stop it.

This legislation should never have been introduced.

It should never have passed.

And it should never remain on the statute books.

Labor taxes hardship.

The Coalition rewards hard work.

That’s why we’ll scrap Labor’s toxic taxes and reward aspiration instead of punishing it.

Because no Australian should ever receive a tax bill simply because they have lost the person they love.

No government should profit from grief.

Labor has run out of places to tax.

So now…

They’re taxing misery.

[Ends]