Libs want Dutton to announce ‘big policies’ leading into election campaign

Coalition MPs are pushing Peter Dutton to unveil big policies in his budget reply speech, amid concerns there needed to be a stronger economic agenda to convince voters to boot Labor from power.

Peter Dutton with opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor. Picture: Nikki Short/NewsWire

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Coalition MPs are pushing Peter Dutton to unveil big policies in his upcoming budget reply speech, amid concerns there needed to be a stronger economic agenda to convince voters to boot Labor from power after just one term.

Several Coalition MPs have told The Australian there urgently needed to be serious economic policy released and they are worried the Opposition Leader is putting too much emphasis on public service cuts to balance the budget.

One senior Liberal told The Australian it was unclear what Mr Dutton stood for, while others were worried the Coalition would not be offering income tax cuts at the election or doing enough to unwind Labor’s industrial relations agenda.

The performance of opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor has also come under focus, with one MP labelling him a “dead weight” and “totally reactive”.

Another MP argued Mr Taylor was showing no signs he could beat Jim Chalmers in a political contest on the economy.

“I’m not sure what Angus has been doing,” one MP said.

“There is a lack of policy but also a lack of interest in policy.”

Coalition MPs say the past fortnight has been messy for the opposition, with a public split emerging between Mr Dutton and Mr Taylor over whether there should be divestiture powers for the insurance sector.

The lack of policy from Mr Dutton has been noticed by voters, with Newspoll showing a majority of Australians do not believe the Coalition is ready to govern.

However, there are other Coalition MPs who back the small-target strategy and believe it has worked to keep the pressure on the government over its economic failures.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton at a press conference on Wednesday. Picture: Annette Dew

A spokeswoman for Mr Taylor said the Coalition has announced at least 34 economic policies in this term of parliament, with “more to come”.

Mr Taylor said the Coalition’s plan would “deliver a stronger economy with low inflation, cheaper energy, affordable homes, safer communities and quality healthcare”.

With Labor becoming increasingly confident it has a good story to tell on the economy at the upcoming election, the Treasurer took aim at podcaster and businessman Mark Bouris for accusing the government of having no plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

“Mark, you know I respect you and take your views seriously, and I agree people are doing it tough, but don’t agree there’s no plan,” Dr Chalmers said on X.

Dr Chalmers used the social media exchange to outline all of the government’s policies on addressing the cost of living, while talking up the improvement of the economy.

“So more to do but making progress,” he said.

Despite demanding a bolder agenda, most Coalition MPs want Mr Dutton to match an extension of electricity rebates if they are extended by Labor in the upcoming budget.

“We’ve got no option but to extend them when we’re heading into an election campaign,” said one Liberal MP, sympathetic to an extension of the existing rebates.

A Nationals MP said: “It’s hard to see families going through these crises without some more support.”

Another Liberal MP noted that while the rebates were “bad economics”, they warned that it would be “terrible politically” if the Coalition opened itself up to Labor attacks by opposing an extension of power bill rebates.

With households already experiencing a 31.3 per cent increase in their out-of-pocket electricity costs since October, power prices could jump by a further 29.9 per cent by year’s end in the event that federal and state cost-of-living supports are not renewed.

Other opposition MPs, however, were sceptical of extending the cost-of-living support, particularly when the Coalition had pledged to trim growth in government spending.

One Liberal MP said an extension of the electricity bill rebates would amount to “pissing away” taxpayers’ money, while another believed few households had noticed the support they had received, which meant there was little reason for the rebates to continue.