Shorten orders double shot $
BILL Shorten has set up a tax cut election showdown, offering voters relief of up to $928 a year, almost double the size of Treasurer Scott Morrison’s cut, should he become Prime Minister.
Delivering his Budget reply speech last night, Mr Shorten vowed to block the Turnbull government’s tax reform package, including the abolition of an entire tax bracket, and said he would only support the “modest” cuts the government is offering.
In a reference to Robert Menzies’ famous 1942 speech and campaign, Mr Shorten said that he would be the Prime Minister to deliver “a Fair Go for the real forgotten people: working families, pensioners and Australians doing it tough”.
Making an election pitch directly to middle-class voters, 200 200 200 290 440 530 530 530 530 530 350 350 350 508 770 928 928 928 928 928
Mr Shorten said that he would dole out bigger personal tax relief “because I think you are more important than multinationals, banks and big business”.
Mr Shorten also attacked the Turnbull government for giving an $80 billion tax cut to big business while putting just $10 a week back into the pockets of Australians.
“Tonight, I announce a Labor government will go further 530 530 530 665 590 515 440 365 290 215
and do better on tax cuts for working and middle-income Australians,” the Opposition Leader said.
“In our first term of government, a teacher on $65,000 will be $2780 better off under Labor – an extra $928 a year.
“After years of flat wages, rising power bills and increasing health costs it’s time for a fair-dinkum tax cut for middleclass and working-class Australians.”
Labor’s tax cuts kick in at $25,000 and cut off for workers earning more than $120,000 a year.
However, Labor will oppose the government’s tax reform package, which was introduced to Parliament this week.
Mr Shorten said it was unfair to have all taxpayers earning between $41,000 and $200,000 pay the same rate of tax at 32.5 per cent.
“We will not allow the Prime Minister to threaten to block tax cuts for 10 million Aussies, unless the Parliament writes a cheque for the wealthiest,” he said. “How can it be fair for a carer on $40,000 to pay the same tax rate as a doctor on $200,000? For a cleaner to pay the same tax rate as a CEO?”
Labor will use the same mechanism as the government, a tax offset, to deliver the refunds at the end of the financial year. But without permanent tax bracket changes, taxpayers remain at risk of being caught by bracket creep.
Mr Shorten last night outlined the tough calls he said Labor had already made, including finding savings from changes to negative gearing and superannuation benefits.
Labor is likely to face criticism over class warfare, with Treasurer Mr Morrison already taking aim at Mr Shorten for being stuck “in a rut of envy and bitterness”.
The Budget reply came as Labor attacked the government over its $140 billion income tax cut plan, with new analysis from the Grattan Institute showing 60 per cent of the lost revenue would go to those with the top 20 per cent of incomes by 2028.
While the largest tax cuts would benefit low and middleincome earners until 2025, changes to tax arrangements putting more high earners in lower tax brackets would eventually favour the wealthy, the analysis said.