Andrew Bolt: Albanese is again treating voters like idiots

Anthony Albanese has again treated voters like idiots, saying his promise to cut your taxes “has not changed”.

Anthony Albanese on Sunday again treated voters like idiots, saying his promise to cut your taxes “has not changed”.

Except the Prime Minister saying his mind “had not changed” is like saying the green traffic light “has not changed”. Yet.

In truth, Albanese never wanted these Morrison government tax cuts – due in 2024 – and promised them as recently as last May only because he feared he’d lose the election if he didn’t.

Don’t believe the Labor mates now claiming these tax cuts are a luxury we can’t afford, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers groaning that sudden “global economic headwinds” change things.

Get off it.

The world is in much the same or predictable strife it was in May.

The biggest thing that’s changed is Chalmers finding the Morrison government left him with $50bn he hadn’t expected.

Anthony Albanese has refused to rule out winding back the stage three tax cut. Picture: Philip Gostelow

Albanese thrashed around on Sunday for another get-out-of-promise card, saying interest rates were rising around the world to stop inflation and “fiscal policy should work in concert with that”.

No to pumping more money into the economy.

Pathetic for two reasons.

First, rates are being raised to fight inflation NOW.

These stage three tax cuts – the first two stages, for poorer Australians, have already been paid – aren’t due for two years. We may need them then.

Second, “fiscal policy” is not just about taxes, and Albanese could crack down on inflation NOW by cutting the $8bn extra spending Labor promised.

But hear former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser, close to Labor, say we can’t afford the tax cuts because Labor has “commendable” programs that are “extremely expensive”.

Commendable? Like the tens of billions this government will waste on green energy that will just increase power prices without changing the world’s climate?

Then Rod Sims, former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, insisted Australians be “less knee-jerk” about tax increases for government stuff.

Actually, we should be less “knee-jerk” about saying yes-yes-yes to all the government handouts without bothering to ask who’ll pay.

Another friend of Labor, ABC political editor Laura Tingle, moaned: “With the budget forecast to remain in deficit for the next four years, those tax cuts are effectively unfunded.”

Knock knock, Laura.

With a budget more than $30bn in deficit, your own ABC is “effectively unfunded”, too. Shouldn’t we scrap the $1bn a year we give it?

Bottom line: Labor just doesn’t want to cut its spending. In that respect, the world hasn’t changed.