Pauline Hanson reveals she is likely to support Malcolm Turnbull’s income tax cuts
PAULINE Hanson says she’s now likely to support the Turnbull government’s personal income tax cuts, arguing she can’t deny $140 billion worth of hip-pocket relief to “average Australians” while Canberra fat cats pocket pay rises.
NSW
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PAULINE Hanson says she’s now likely to support the Turnbull government’s personal income tax cuts, arguing she can’t deny $140 billion worth of hip-pocket relief to “average Australians” while Canberra fat cats pocket pay rises.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in between meetings with crossbenchers, Labor and the government on her position on personal income tax cuts, Ms Hanson said she was yet to make a final decision but was leaning towards supporting the Coalition’s plans in full.
The One Nation senator said while most people care more about budget repair than an extra $10 a week, she did not want to deprive Australians of extra money while politicians and bureaucrats on big salaries took home pay rises of up to $17,000 a year.
She linked the tax cuts to a cap or freeze on wage rises for MPs and public servants and said it was an issue she was going to “fight for.”
“How can I knock back this payrise for average Australians out there earning up to $200k to give them a bit of money back in their pockets when I’m not saying anything about these payrises to politicians and bureaucrats and everyone else that comes under that? It’s not being fair. I can’t,” she said.
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“I’m not going to knock that back and say the bureaucrats and everyone can get these unreasonable wages. They are beyond a joke.”
Asked if the Budget could afford $140 billion in tax cuts, Ms Hanson said: “It’s not much for us to be able to afford that if the government cut back on their spending. Politicians don’t need a 2 per cent payrise. Bureaucrats don’t need a payrise. They are getting, some of them, $17,000 a year pay rise. I’m angry about that.”
Ms Hanson criticised both sides of politics for making excessive election-year promises while doing nothing to tackle budget repair.
“A lot of Australians, this $530 a year, $10 a week — do you know what hairdressers and everyone are saying? We’d rather see that go into paying down the debt. That’s what they’re worried about. They’re not worried about the $10 a week in their pocket,” she said.
Ms Hanson opposed company tax cuts for businesses with turnover higher than $50 million a year after negotiations with the government broke down. She said personal tax cuts were a separate issue.
Responding to a comment that she sounded like she was supporting the personal income tax cuts, Ms Hanson replied: “It does, doesn’t it.”