Shadow Treasurer O'Brien Targets Young Voters With 'Intergenerational Fairness' Pitch in First Major Address
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Deputy Opposition Leader Ted O’Brien has used his debut speech as Shadow Treasurer to mount a generational appeal to younger Australians, warning that national debt has saddled every child born in Australia with $60,000 in liabilities and pledging that a future Coalition government would deliver personal income tax cuts.
Addressing the National Press Club on Wednesday, O’Brien (Liberal, Fadden, QLD) framed his economic critique of the Albanese government through the lens of intergenerational fairness, arguing that Labor’s spending decisions are “consigning the next generation to a poorer future.”
“Every child born in Australia today enters the world $60,000 behind,” O’Brien declared. “And every minute that goes by, they fall further behind.”
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The former energy spokesperson used the speech to introduce “Jess” — a composite character representing millennial Australians — as the human face of economic policy. He described Jess as a 38-year-old married mother of two, renting a small townhouse in the outer suburbs, watching her rent climb 20%, electricity bills surge 40%, and her weekly grocery shop reach nearly $300.
“As Liberals in 2025, our mission must be to assure Jess and the millions of millennials just like her, the younger Gen Zs and the younger still Gen Alphas, that we see them and we are here to serve them,” O’Brien said.
The Shadow Treasurer accused the government of presiding over a “spending spree” that has driven what he termed “Jimflation” — a deliberate reference to Treasurer Jim Chalmers. He pointed to government spending growing at 5.5% above inflation in the last financial year, compared to the 0.4% real growth the Coalition had budgeted for the same period.
“Labor delivered real spending growth last year that was 13 times higher than the Coalition had budgeted for,” O’Brien said. “Chalmers’ decisions turned a Coalition surplus into a Labor deficit.”
O’Brien challenged the government’s fiscal framework, noting that Treasurer Chalmers’ fiscal strategy document contained no numerical targets — a point he illustrated by referencing Senate estimates testimony in which a Treasury official was unable to identify a single numeral in the document.
“That sums up Chalmers’ fiscal strategy beautifully. It’s a word salad,” O’Brien said, calling on the Treasurer to commit to “quantifiable fiscal rules” for accountability.
The speech contained sharp criticism of government tax policy, with O’Brien claiming personal income taxes had reached an all-time record high as a share of the economy, even after the delivery of the Coalition’s original Stage 3 tax cuts. He alleged the Treasurer was planning to raise personal income taxes by “nearly half a trillion dollars over the next decade” to achieve projected budget balance.
“Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has made it clear that we will take a personal income tax package to the next election,” O’Brien confirmed. “Because young Australian workers can’t afford half a trillion dollars of personal income tax increases under Labor.”
On productivity, O’Brien painted a stark picture, citing Productivity Commission data showing that for the first time in Australian history, workers entering the workforce were not experiencing higher living standards than previous generations. He noted productivity had declined 5% over the past three years.
The Shadow Treasurer devoted significant attention to artificial intelligence, describing it as potentially “the most profound economic transformation since the advent of the internet” and arguing that Australia’s policy settings were “actively hostile” to capturing the opportunity.
“AI leadership in South East Asia is up for grabs and we should take it,” O’Brien said, proposing concepts including “energy-intensive economic zones” in regional areas to host AI infrastructure and “digital embassies” for sovereign data hosting — an idea he attributed to Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar.
He criticised government regulation as creating the “slowest approval process in South East Asia” for data centres and warned that Labor’s energy transition policies would prevent Australia from meeting the energy demands of an AI-powered economy.
“Labor’s energy transition is lowering productivity. It is the polar opposite of industrial revolution. If anything, it’s revolution in de-industrialisation,” O’Brien said.
On housing, the Shadow Treasurer endorsed colleague Senator Andrew Bragg’s criticism that Labor’s 5% deposit scheme would “expand housing demand, force up house prices, and push home ownership further away.”
The speech concluded with a commitment to “cleaning up after Labor governments” as “the natural order of things in Australian politics,” with O’Brien pledging that while it would “take years of discipline” to return the budget to balance, “I can assure you, we will do it.”
During questions, O’Brien declined to detail specific tax cut designs, noting the next election was “two and a half years” away with “seven to eight budget updates” still to come. He acknowledged that colleagues like Senator Bragg had suggested focusing tax cuts on middle and high-income earners.
When challenged on whether his speech addressed concerns like student debt or rising house prices, O’Brien said the 30-minute format precluded comprehensive coverage but promised “policies that will roll out in all of these areas.”
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