Labor rushes tax cuts laws in pre-election wedge
Labor has rushed its budget plans for tax cuts for Australian workers into federal parliament, as the window for calling the election narrows.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced the legislation to the house on Wednesday, saying it will give a “top-up” to every taxpayer up and down the income scale.
“To stand in the way of this legislation is to vote for higher taxes on Australian workers,” he said.
“To vote against this legislation would be to stand in the way of more hard-earned money staying in the pockets of every hard-working Australian.
“To vote against this legislation would be to stand against more cost-of-living relief that Australians need and deserve.”
Earlier, Chalmers took a swipe at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor after the Coalition refused to replicate Labor’s newly announced tax cuts – of up to $268 from July 2026 and a total of $536 in the following year.
“After Angus Taylor’s brain explosion last night on tax cuts, the election will be a choice between Labor cutting taxes and helping with the cost of living, versus Peter Dutton’s secret cuts, which will make people worse off,” he said.
“Peter Dutton wants to cut everything except people’s taxes, that means people will be worse off if he wins.”
Dutton slammed the tax cuts as a “cruel hoax” and said the Coalition would provide an opportunity for Australians to make a choice.
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“A choice will be between a high spending Labor government… on the other hand, the Coalition government, which has a vision for our country, which has a plan for our country to make sure that we can address cost-of-living pressures that have been created by this bad Labor government,” he said.
Dutton hinted the Coalition will use its budget reply on Thursday to propose its own cost-of-living plan, ahead of the election.
“The government offering 70 cents a day – it’s just a rounding error for families,” he said, referring to the impact of the first round of tax cuts.
“It’s about the next five weeks, not the next five years.”
While he acknowledged that defeating a first-term government can be tough, Dutton was confident.
“We are in the most significant position that an opposition has been in first-term since 1931,” he said.
“We’re on the cusp of bringing an end to a first-term government.
“Labor’s created, not just an economic crisis, not just a housing crisis, but a crisis of confidence.”
An election must be held by May 16, and expectations are rising that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could visit the governor-general this weekend.
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On Wednesday, Albanese played up his government’s achievements and spruiked Labor’s plan to set up the country in the years to come.
“Those opposite had the hide this morning out there on their TV round-up to speak about a stronger economy and to speak about fiscal policy,” he told the House of Representatives.
“They are delulu with no solulu. They are completely delusional. Completely delusional, when it comes to that.
“We’ve got wages up, we’ve got taxes down, we’ve got employment growing.”
Also in Parliament, Dutton hit back – digging into TV history for a comedy reference.
“Remember Uncle Arthur? There he was, where he was floating around, rambling around – [this] speech by the Prime Minister, which darted back to the Gillard years to project himself forward, he was stuck yesterday. What was that incoherent rant from this Prime Minister, who is out of luck and out of time?
Dutton singled out the housing crisis, accusing the government of choking supply. It follows the revelation at Senate estimates that the government has bought homes under its housing policy, but has not built any.
“Out of the four budget announcements, you would have thought – they’re promising 1.2 million homes – that maybe, after three years, maybe they’ve achieved 400,000 homes … You would have thought 100,000 – it’s not 100,000 even. Not one home, not one home,” he said.
“It’s their [Labor’s] housing crisis. At the same time that they’ve choked supply and they have increased demand for housing.”
Chalmers said the budget showed inflation was coming down to within the Reserve Bank’s target of between 2-3 per cent sooner than anticipated.
While he acknowledged the budget centrepiece was “modest”, it eventually works out to an extra $10 a week for hip pockets and offers greater relief once factored into previous tax cuts.
Aside from that, the budget contained few surprises, with many policies already announced on the presumption of an early election.
But the government was forced to delay going to the polls as Tropical Cyclone Alfred barrelled towards south-east Queensland, which meant it had to hand down a budget after all.
“This fourth budget, a very rare and cherished opportunity, is being delivered on the eve of an election, and it will set up a choice,” Chalmers said.
