ANALYSIS: Was this Anthony Albanese’s own Julia Gillard carbon tax moment

During the election and even as of last month, Anthony Albanese appeared committed to keeping his predecessor’s stage 3 tax cuts in place. But that resolve has now seemed to flicker, writes Matthew Killoran.

This may have been the first step toward Anthony Albanese’s own version of Julia Gillard’s “never be a carbon tax” moment.

During the election and even as of last month, Mr Albanese was giving clear commitment to keeping his predecessor’s stage 3 tax cuts in place.

But on Monday, as he faced questions at the National Press Club, that resolve seemed to flicker.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s speech at the National Press Club. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The tax cuts, legislated by the Coalition Government in 2018, don’t come into effect until July 2024 and will set one tax rate for people earning from $45,000 and $200,000, with that rate dropping from 32.5 per cent to 30 per cent.

The Prime Minister, who did not support the tax cuts initially, has been coming under increasing pressure from unions, economists, the crossbench and Greens to scrap them.

Mr Albanese by no means walked away from the commitment, but he left enough wiggle room to don a brightly-coloured skivvy as he pointed to the “real challenges” with the budget and mountain of debt.

Mr Albanese said his position hadn’t changed even as he repeated that he had opposed them, that the vote was lost by just one, that it had been an “all or nothing” prospect, but even when pressed he would not definitively rule out dropping them.

And an argument can certainly be made to scrap the tax cuts.

They will cost the budget $240 billion over a decade, at a time that the nation is staring down the barrel of $1 trillion debt.

But politically, getting rid of it would be extraordinarily difficult, and even tinking with it so top earners don’t get as much is still a challenge.

It would open him up to devastating attacks from the Opposition, with the Coalition proving to be relentless with this line of prosecution in the past.

Anthony Albanese with former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during the election campaign. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Not only that, but it would leave him open to accusations of having broken an election promise.

When Prime Minister Julia Gillard walked away from her pledge not to introduce a carbon tax, it defined her government.

Mr Albanese risks the same if he goes down this path.