Operation Recovery: PM’s $1000 tax gift

Scott Morrison has revealed his plan to kickstart the nation’s economic recovery — which could include extended tax cuts for millions of Australians — if he wins the next election.

Tax cuts worth $1080 to millions of Australians could be extended to avert a hip-pocket hit to low and middle-income earners after next year’s election.

Scott Morrison’s plan to kickstart the economic recovery will also include migrants being sent to the regions, businesses pushed to bring their staff back to the CBD and the international border remaining open no matter.

Tax relief which puts $7.8bn in the wallets of workers is due to expire on June 30 next year.

In an interview with the Saturday Herald Sun, the Prime Minister refused to be drawn on whether it would be extended for another 12 months, saying a call would be made “at an appropriate time” but that cutting taxes was “always our approach”.

“We’ve got a very strong record of delivering tax cuts,” Mr Morrison said.

“If you really want people and business to get on and do things, you can’t keep more of what they earn, it has to go back the other way.”

With a pre-election budget now likely before next year’s election, senior government sources said the tax cuts issue was yet to be resolved internally, as the Coalition seeks to balance fuelling the economic recovery while also beginning to rein in spending.

Mr Morrison also told the Saturday Herald Sun:

• Skilled migration will be back to normal by the first half of next year to ease critical workforce shortages across the country;

• Australians may be able to travel to Bali without having to quarantine by Christmas;

• Cheaper and better electrical appliances will be relied upon to encourage households to give up gas heating and cooking in the transition to net zero emissions.

Scott Morrison has challenged Daniel Andrews’ sweeping vaccine mandate and new pandemic powers. Picture: David Crosling

Speaking in Melbourne this week, Mr Morrison also challenged Daniel Andrews’s sweeping vaccine mandate and controversial new pandemic powers, saying he understood why Victorians were “feeling anxious” and that he was concerned by protests flaring in the streets.

He said it was up to the Premier to justify his new laws, and he hoped requiring proof of vaccination for “doing the most normal things in our cities” would soon be scrapped.

“I think the relationship you have with the public, you have to constantly maintain their goodwill,” Mr Morrison said.

“Australians have had enough of the governments telling them what to do … These things should be used very sparingly and only as necessary and only for as long as they have to.”

The Prime Minister said securing Australia’s economic recovery would be his focus if re-elected next year.

Asked whether a “big Australia” policy would be part of that, Mr Morrison said the government needed to “get the balance right” on migration, with new arrivals funnelled into regional areas to prevent further housing affordability and congestion issues in capital cities.

He said the federal government was “pushing very strongly” for its employees to go back to their offices, and he expected business leaders to do the same to rejuvenate struggling CBDs.