Shadowing Practice: Coalition pledges to overturn Labor's tax changes in Budget Reply | ABC NEWS - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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The Coalition would repeal Labor's planned changes to taxes if elected, setting up a political fight on tax policy.
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The Coalition would repeal Labor's planned changes to taxes if elected, setting up a political fight on tax policy.
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The opposition leader Angus Taylor gave his Budget in Reply speech overnight, also promising to limit migration, cut welfare for non-citizens and scrap work towards net zero.
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Political reporter Isabel Rowe joins me now from Parliament House in Canberra.
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Hi there Isabel.
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So this was all part of Angus Taylor's Budget Reply.
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What's he aiming for here?
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Yeah, Mel, so he's aiming to what he says will put more money back in people's pockets and overturn some of those policies that we heard Labor announce in its budget earlier this week.
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So we heard on Tuesday night the government is planning to cap negative gearing to new builds only and to reduce the capital gains tax discount so that people selling assets like houses and shares would end up paying a bit more tax.
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Now the opposition says it would scrap both those two policies entirely if it were elected to office and do something else, and that is tie income tax rates to inflation to prevent bracket creep.
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Now bracket creep is this thing that happens where inflation pushes your tax up to potentially the next tax bracket but your buying power isn't increased because of that same inflation.
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So Angus Taylor says he will do this by addressing the bottom two tax brackets first and then by 2031 he would extend it to all tax brackets.
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Now this is a policy that the coalition has said will cost $22.5 billion over four years.
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It's not saying exactly where it will get that money from.
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In fact, Australia used to have this policy, but it was scrapped because it was so expensive.
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But the Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, the coalition partner, has said today that the government is spending too much money on net zero, on programs like vehicles emission standards, on giving welfare to new migrants who are not citizens yet.
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And he says those are the sorts of things that the coalition would cut in order to pay for this.
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Of course we had to spend more money in Canberra during COVID for JobKeeper, to keep the country moving, to bail out our airlines.
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But then once all that ended, this government just kept the spending really high on a whole lot of other corporate welfare, bureaucracies that can and should be scaled back so the Australian people don't have to pay so much tax.
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Now on housing specifically, they've also said they would scrap the Housing Future Fund because it's not actually building any houses and instead tie housing to migration.
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So for every one house built in this country, they would allow in one migrant.
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So Isabel, what's the response been from business groups to the Coalition's plan?
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Well, the Business Council of Australia, which is traditionally quite supportive of coalition policies, has raised some issues with the migration plan in particular.
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They say we do actually need skilled migrants, in particular in this country, to build the houses, that the Coalition agrees that we do need.
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So there is some concerns about the rate of migration the coalition is hoping to pull back on.
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There is some happiness though at the plans for tax reform.
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They do encourage the government to be doing some of those things that could address bracket creep.
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We've heard from the Treasurer Jim Chalmers this morning from the government's response.
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They've called this budget nonsense, that it's not costed and that it's not addressing the actual problem that the country has, which is housing.
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Ours is a plan to strengthen the economy.
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Angus Taylor's is a ploy to stave off One Nation.
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What we saw last night from Angus Taylor was not a budget reply, it was a bin fire.
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It wasn't a budget reply, it was a bin fire of higher deficits, more debt, more inflation and more division.
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Jim Chalmers there and we should point out that the government has also flagged that it does want to address bracket creep in similar ways to reduce income tax, but those exact plans are yet to be laid out.
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Thank you.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, learners will practice their English speaking skills by engaging with a political dialogue focused on tax policy and economic reforms. By using shadowing techniques, students will enhance their listening comprehension and pronunciation while exploring important political vocabulary. The dialogue covers key topics such as tax changes proposed by the Coalition, migration policies, and economic implications, providing a rich context for language practice.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Repeal – to revoke or annul a law or policy.
  • Brackets – ranges in taxation rates.
  • Bracket creep – a situation where inflation pushes income into higher tax brackets without an increase in real income.
  • Corporate welfare – financial support to businesses from the government.
  • Migration policy – rules that govern the movement of people into and out of a country.
  • Negative gearing – a financial strategy that allows investors to deduct losses from their income.
  • Welfare – government support for individuals in need.
  • Economic reform – changes intended to enhance the economic performance of a country.

Practice Tips

To effectively use the shadowing technique with the video transcript, follow these strategic tips:

  • Start by listening to short sections of the dialogue. This will allow you to focus on the rhythm and intonation of native speakers.
  • Repeat each segment aloud immediately after hearing it, mimicking the tone and speed of the speakers. This helps improve your fluency in English speaking practice.
  • Use a shadowing app to playback parts of the dialogue at different speeds. Adjust the speed to match your comfort level—start slower and gradually increase the speed as you gain confidence.
  • Pay attention to any new vocabulary and try to incorporate these words into your own sentences when practicing. This will solidify your understanding and make the vocabulary more memorable.
  • Record yourself as you practice. Listening back will help you identify areas for improvement in pronunciation and fluency.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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