ScoMo Express hits Queensland with warnings on Labor policies
PRIME Minister Scott Morrison will tour Queensland next week, and he has a dire warning for local voters.
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EVERY Queenslander will face “a one-two punch” by wannabe prime minister Bill Shorten’s taxes on homes, the incumbent Scott Morrison will warn in a statewide blitz aimed at applying a blowtorch to Labor polies and harnessing feedback from voters.
The Prime Minister, who arrives in Brisbane on Monday, said he wanted to hear from Queenslanders and equally needed to tell them about Labor’s “big slug” on their homes and their nest eggs.
The ScoMo Express will travel from the Gold Coast to Townsville, targeting marginal seats and meeting with seniors, small businesses and families.
The pre-election blitz also highlights stark difference between Mr Morrison and his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Turnbull refused to use negative advertising in the 2016 poll – roundly considered a political failure – but it is clear Mr Morrison will ram home the stark differences between the Coalition and Labor, and what he believes are the significant risks of a Labor government.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier-Mail, Mr Morrison said he was backing Queenslanders and wanted their direct feedback.
“In all places I think infrastructure and the economy are really central to what is impacting on them each day,’’ Mr Morrison said.
“I’m just taking the opportunity in a non-sitting week to spend an intensive period focusing on the challenges that Queenslanders are facing.
“But so is the issue of tax. Not just because we will tax people less but there’s… concerns… about Labor’s tax agenda, small businesses and family businesses and what the tax agenda means for them.”
Mr Morrison will ramp-up his attack on Labor’s planned “granny tax”.
If Labor wins government, from July next year it will end refunds for shareholders who pay no tax or low tax.
Some older Australians on meagre earnings, or on the pension, hold shares.
Companies pay tax on its profit at 30 per cent and then pays dividends to shareholders. Shareholders who pay less tax than the company rate can claim a refund.
Mr Morrison said Labor’s home taxes would hurt every Queenslander.
Labor has pledged to scrap negative gearing allowances, except for new homes, and will reduce capital gains tax from 50 per cent to 25 per cent.
“We now have a housing market which is mostly moving along and in Queensland you never saw the highs (in prices) that we’ve seen in the southern states,” Mr Morrison said.
“And the great risk of what Labor wants to do in this area is by abolishing negative gearing and (its) capital gains tax (changes).
“That’s a one-two punch on the housing market at a time it can least afford it.”
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