Dutton slams tax fibs
Coalition accepts change from the ‘Liar in the Lodge’
Bigger tax cuts for lower and middle income earners are all but locked in as Peter Dutton sets up the battleground for the next election.
The Opposition Leader confirmed he would not stand in the way of Labor’s reworked stage 3 tax cuts following a party room meeting with Coalition MPs.
Describing him as a “liar in the Lodge”, Mr Dutton attacked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s credibility as he vowed to take a strong tax policy to the next election.
“We’re supporting this change, not to support the Prime Minister’s lie but to support those families who need help now because Labor has made decisions that have made it much harder for those families,” he said.
“We will take to the next election a significant tax policy, which will reduce taxes for the Australian taxpayers because we know that there is going to be a lot of support needed to help Australian families recover from this period of Labor.”
What that might look like won’t be revealed until closer to the next election, Mr Dutton said. Mr Dutton’s announcement followed a joint party room meeting where MPs agreed to put up amendments but would wave the tax plan through when they ultimately failed.
The Coalition’s support paves the way for the proposal, which reworks the Morrisonera policy to give workers earning less than $150,000 a greater tax cut, to pass parliament before Mr Albanese’s Easter deadline, to come into effect on July 1.
As Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced the legislation to the House, and Mr Dutton was making his announcement, Coalition senators lined up to lash out at the tax plan.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher was forced to withdraw after she accused the opposition of disrupting the senate’s business to “bitch and moan”.
The motion, which called on Mr Albanese to apologise to voters for breaking his commitment to keep stage 3 as it was legislated in 2019, failed after the Greens voted with Labor.
It’s despite the Greens leaving the door open to sending the tax cuts to a Senate inquiry, delaying the vote and putting the Easter deadline in doubt.
No decision was made at the Greens party room meeting on Tuesday morning as to whether it would back the changes – arguing more needed to be done to make stage 3 fair.