Anthony Albanese’s centrist credentials under a cloud

Anthony Albanese during in Canberra on Friday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese’s broken promise on stage three tax cuts showcases the difference between the reality of his Labor government and his pre-election claim he would govern from the centre in the vein of Bob Hawke.

It also raises questions whether Labor’s about-face on Bill Shorten’s class war agenda after the 2019 election loss was a superficial political move rather than a fundamental reassessment of its values.

While the PM says the package is better for Middle Australia, a growing number of people become worse off next decade because of bracket creep caused by the retention of the 37 per cent marginal rate.

Under the policy, workers currently earning $120,000 – hardly the top end of town – will pay higher yearly income tax by 2031-32 than they would have under the stage three tax cuts legislated by Scott Morrison in 2019 and backed by Mr Albanese at the last election.

People earning $130,000 will pay nearly $3500 more tax over a decade under Labor’s stage three rewrite, despite them being counted in the 11.5m workers who will be better off.

So in the long-term, the real winners from the reform are those on below average incomes while many middle income earners’ tax burden increases.

While this approach will be applauded by unions and parts of the Labor base, it is not the type of government Mr Albanese said he would lead.

It is more in line with the redistributive agenda of Mr Shorten’s in 2019 when he opposed stage three and promised higher taxes on property investors and retirees with shares.

Mr Albanese has certainly dropped Mr Shorten’s divisive “top end of town” rhetoric but in policy he is gradually shifting closer toward the former Labor leader. Just look at his industrial relations agenda. He promoted himself as a consensus leader who would work with both business and unions. While this consensus rhetoric has remained, in a policy sense he has overwhelmingly favoured the unions while corporate Australia has been made to look like fools for running dead in the 2022 election campaign.

While his vow to bring integrity back into politics was obviously nothing more than a sound bite, Mr Albanese’s centrist pitch to voters is also at risk of looking hollow.