Dutton to pitch cheaper fuel plan in budget reply
Peter Dutton says Australians struggling with rising bills want more help than a meagre “70-cents-a-day” tax cut as the Opposition leader prepares to reveal his cost-of-living policy.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton will deliver his reply to the federal budget on Thursday and flagged a major announcement on fuel prices, after Labor used it to announce a two-phase tax cut.
Dutton is expected to promise the Coalition would halve the fuel excise for 12 months, lowering the rate on petrol and diesel from about 50 cents to 25 cents per litre.
The Coalition voted against the tax cuts baked into the budget after passing parliament on Wednesday, saying they were too little, too late for struggling Australians.
Taxpayers will save up to $268 on their tax bills in 2026/27 and up to $536 every year after under Labor’s proposal.
“What’s obvious here is that a 70-cent-a-day tax cut in 15 months’ time is just not going to help families today who are really suffering,” Dutton said.
“We do want to help families address the cost-of-living crisis, we do want to address the energy crisis.”
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Some punters seemed equally unimpressed at the scale of the tax cut with power bills soaring and workers struggling to find jobs.
Ravi Velu is trying to find his way back into the workforce after a personal issue forced him to quit his electrician job.
Skyrocketing cost-of-living pressures have forced the 43-year-old from St Albans in Melbourne’s northwest to pawn his belongings off and move in with his partner and her family.
“I’m no spring chicken anymore, especially trying to get back into the workforce and dealing with personal situations, it’s hard,” Velu said.
He says the tax cuts, which won’t apply to him due to his unemployment, will not make a difference and he is considering voting for someone who takes seriously the thousands of people in his situation.
Meiko Smith owns a hair salon in Devonport, Tasmania and says costs have nearly doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“We used to have price hikes every two or three years. Now we’re getting it every year,” she said.
Smith said the tax cuts, which amount to one cup of coffee a week, will do nothing for the cost of living crisis.
“Because an election is coming up, they’re making promises just to get everyone to vote Albanese,” she said.
“It just all seems to be a lot of talk.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his fourth federal budget on Tuesday, with opposition leader Peter Dutton expected to deliver a reply on Thursday night. Image: Getty
Treasurer Jim Chalmers branded the cuts “modest in isolation but substantial when combined with all of the ways that we are helping”.
The opposition voted against the cuts, with shadow treasurer Angus Taylor chastising Labor for producing a budget “for the next five weeks, not the next five years,” referring to the imminent election campaign.
But he was attacked by the treasurer for voting against tax relief on the same day inflation moderated further.
“Spare us the lectures about inflation and living standards, if you really cared about the cost of living, you would have voted for our tax cuts,” Chalmers said.
The opposition has also pledged to fast-track gas approvals and extend ageing coal-fired power plants to reduce electricity prices in the medium term, in a move slammed by environmental groups.
Speculation is increasing the prime minister will call the election as early as Friday, firing the starting gun on a minimum 33-day campaign that will end with voters going to the polls in May.
