Morrison’s assault on Labor ‘arrogance’ over tax vote

Scott Morrison has labelled Labor’s threats to block the governmen­t’s income tax cuts as an act of “belligerent”.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison: “Tax cuts are first cab off the rank. We want them passed this week … and we will use every procedur­al option to achieve it,”. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison has labelled Labor’s threats to block the governmen­t’s $158 billion persona­l income tax cuts package an act of “belligerent arrogance”, while warning that the Coalition will use every parliamentary weapon­ available to ensure the reforms are passed this week.

With Labor’s frontbench still deeply divided over whether to back the entire plan, the Prime Minister has sharpened his ­attack, ahead of the first parliamentary sitting week since the May 18 election.

“Tax cuts are first cab off the rank. We want them passed this week … and we will use every procedur­al option to achieve it,” Mr Morrison told The Australian in Osaka as he prepared to return from the G20 summit.

He said he expected Labor to not stand in the way of the amended tax legislation passing the lower house tomorrow night.

“If Labor can facilitate it out of the house on Tuesday they should do the same thing in the Senate,’’ he said. “(Not to) would be an act of arrogance, which sadly the Australian people would expect. It would be an act of belligerent arrogance … and only done because they can’t agree among themselves.”

Mr Morrison, who begins the new parliamentary term in a position­ of authority after the ­Coalition’s against-the-odds elect­ion victory, said the government was pursuing a packed legislative agenda, including industria­l relations reforms and more security legislation.

Labor’s frontbench and caucus will meet at Parliament House today to decide how the party will vote on the Coalition’s tax cuts in the House of Representatives.

The tax package, which is rolled out progressively over five years with the first stage to be backdated to July 1 this year, is expect­ed to be debated in the Senate­ on Thursday.

In the Senate, Labor and the Greens will push to have the bill split so that the third stage is killed off. Some Labor MPs have insisted the party has no choice but to support all three stages if its amendments to the package fail in the Senate.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann will put a motion to the Senate asking it to sit contin­uously until the tax bill is passed without amendments. “Aust­ralians voted for tax cuts and they could start receiving them in their bank accounts by the end of next week, if the parliament, including the Senate, deals with our legislation swiftly,’’ he said.

Labor sources said the party would keep its powder dry on how it would vote in the Senate until it knew what support the Coalition had from crossbenchers.

“If it appears the government does have the numbers (to pass the plan), we then face a choice: do we concede defeat, wave it through, or do we spend the next three years being accused of votin­g against tax cuts? That is a political calculation,” a senior Labor source said.

Labor’s major sticking point is the third and final stage of the government’s plan, which from 2024-25 lowers the tax rate from 32.5 per cent to 30 per cent for Australians earning between $45,000 and $200,000. The third phase costs the budget $95bn in the medium term to 2029-30.

South Australian senator Cory Bernardi’s vote is locked in and the government is likely to get the support of the two Centre ­Alliance senators, who are confid­ent of reaching an agreement with the Coalition on gas policies in exchange for their backing on the tax cuts.

Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie, who begins her new six-year Senate­ term today, is undecided, while One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has repeatedly said her party would not support the full plan. Queensland Labor MP Graham­ Perrett, the opposition assistant education spokesman, said he wanted to drill down into Parliamentary Budget Office modelling released last week that showed people on salaries of more than $180,000 would get $29.7bn in tax cuts, or 31.1 per cent of the cuts in stage three of the plan.

“I don’t see any great urgency to get it (the third stage) sorted,” he said. “The Australian people elected us to be a strong oppos­ition. That means testing everything that comes before the parliament. If we’re going to abrogate that right, we need to hand in our resignation letter.”

Another Labor frontbencher who has significant concerns about stage three claimed it was easier politically to oppose the plan. “The broad view on our side is the challenge of the Australian economy today, not the challenges of five years’ time,” the frontbencher said.

Labor agriculture and resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon, who has called on his party to suppor­t the whole package if the government refused to split its plan, said caucus would agree on four key issues.

There would be unanimity that Australians deserved a tax cut; that stage three was “nothing like” what a Labor government would design; there was nothing in the package in the next three years for Australians earning more than $126,000; and the government was “wrong” to insist it was either all of the tax cuts or nothing.

“A responsible and reasonable government would allow stages one and two to go through and allow a further conversation about the merits or otherwise of stage three, particularly given there is increasingly a question about the affordability of stage three and how it will be paid for,” he said.

Josh Frydenberg, writing in The Australian today, said Labor had an obligation to Australian workers to let the bill pass. “Now the Australian people have spoken­. They want the Coalition’s tax package in full,” the Treasurer writes. “The message to Labor is clear: don’t deny the tax cuts ­Australians voted for.”

Mr Morrison said that if Labor attempted to delay the passage of the entire bill, it would create uncertain­ty and potentially impact­ on consumer confidence.

“It delays the benefits of tax cuts and apparently for no other reason than the selfish Labor Party that can’t get past itself or over its politics of envy,” he said.

If Labor and the Greens oppose the full package, the government will need the votes of four out of the six Senate crossbenchers to pass the plan.

Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick expects to see Senator Cormann today. The key crossbenc­h party has called for measures to reduce gas prices so the tax cuts are not “chewed up” by rising energy costs.