‘We intend to leave them’: Treasurer Jim Chalmers stands by tax cuts

The Treasurer has dropped a big hint on whether one group of people will still get a major tax cut under the Labor government.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has poured cold water on demands to dump tax cuts for the wealthy.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has called for the government to use an upcoming jobs summit to lay the groundwork for a radical overhaul of the nation’s economy.

As part of the overhaul, the ACTU wants the government to play a more heavy-handed role in the Australian economy and scrap the stage 3 tax cuts.

But Mr Chalmers told ABC RN that the government would not push ahead with the tax cut if it didn’t think it was needed.

“We intend to leave them in place. We think that there are steps that can be taken now in the tax system particularly in relation to multinational tax avoidance,” he said.

Jim Chalmers says the government is pushing ahead with the tax cuts. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“That‘s where our priorities should be.”

The tax cuts are due to begin in 2024/25 and were legislated by then treasurer Scott Morrison in 2018 as part of an overhaul of the tax system.

Under the cut, the 37 per cent tax bracket will be abolished and the top 45 per cent bracket will kick in from $200,000. The 32.5 per cent bracket will be cut to 30 per cent.

A parliamentary budget office analysis prepared for the Greens earlier this year revealed the tax cuts could cost $37bn annually by the early 2030s.

The government, which supported the cuts in opposition, has repeatedly said it would not act to overturn the legislation.

It comes as the Coalition remains split on the September jobs summit after Liberal leader Peter Dutton again on Thursday claimed it was a “stunt with the unions”.

The government will hold a jobs summit in the first two weeks of September. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The event was a key election promise from Labor and will bring together business, community and the unions to discuss solutions to enterprise bargaining and other issues in a bid to boost productivity and get wages moving.

Mr Dutton has rejected an invitation to attend despite Nationals leader David Littleproud taking up the offer.

“(Jim Chalmers) sent the invitation to me by email (and) 25 minutes later he dropped it to the press gallery, so if you don't see that as a stunt then I don’t know what is,” Mr Dutton told ABC RN.

“If people think this is an accord in the modern age, it’s not. It’s a wish list from the ACTU about higher taxation.”

Asked about the union’s demands earlier, Mr Chalmers said he welcomed their ideas but reiterated it wasn’t government policy.

Peter Dutton repeated his claim it was a stunt. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“The whole point of having a summit like this is to bring people together to see if there can be common ground found,“ he told ABC RN.

“It would be pretty strange if we said, ‘Come along to a summit and only bring along ideas which have been pre-approved by the government’.

“That’s not in the spirit of the summit (and) not the spirit of the way the government operates.”