Peter Dutton won’t stand in the way of ‘lower taxes’

Peter Dutton says he will not stand in the way of ‘lower taxes’ ahead of a key shadow cabinet meeting to discuss the Coalition’s position on Anthony Albanese’s revamped stage three cuts.

Peter Dutton held a press conference in Frankston with Senator Bridget McKenzie and Liberal Party candidate for the Dunkley by-election, Nathan Conroy. The Opposition leader has declared he will not stand in the way of lower taxes for Australians ahead of ­Coalition partyroom and shadow cabinet meetings early next week. Picture: David Crosling

Peter Dutton has declared he will not stand in the way of lower taxes for Australians ahead of ­Coalition partyroom and shadow cabinet meetings early next week to discuss a position on Anthony Albanese’s overhaul of Scott Morrison’s stage three tax cuts.

Senior Liberal sources said the Opposition Leader would not ­announce a position until Jim Chalmers released legislation expected over the next fortnight when parliament returns on Tuesday.

Coalition MPs and shadow ministers remain torn over how to best respond to Labor’s “political wedge”, with some suggesting amendments restoring some of the cuts abolished under the government plan.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers touring the Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre in Beenleigh. He is expected to release legislation on tthe stage three tax cuts in the next fortnight. Picture: NCA NewsWire/John Gass

A push by the Greens for a parliamentary inquiry could also delay passage of legislation until closer to the May 14 budget. The government has scheduled only five sitting weeks before the budget.

“Regardless of where we land, and we haven’t even seen the legislation yet, we will be amplifying the broken election promise,” a senior Liberal source said.

Mr Dutton will convene a shadow cabinet meeting on Monday before Liberal and joint-Coalition partyroom meetings on Tuesday. Shadow cabinet, which will formally discuss Labor’s stage three tax cuts for the first time, is unlikely to reach a final outcome at the meeting.

Asked if he would stand in the way of Labor’s tax changes, ­attacked by the Coalition as a broken election promise, the Opposition Leader said: “I’ve been very clear that the Liberal Party is the party of lower taxes. We always have been, we ­always will be, because we manage the economy more effectively.

“We’ll announce our position in due course, but we think there’s a massive black hole in what the government’s doing at the ­moment.

“We don’t understand how they can be arguing that they’ll take an extra $28bn over the next few years.

“It’s not 1.8 million taxpayers who are worse off, it’s actually four million taxpayers over the course of the next decade, just with people’s inflation and with wage ­increases that you get each year at work, people quickly move through the tax brackets, and it’s really hitting them between the eyes.”

Speaking later in the Melbourne seat of Dunkley alongside Liberal candidate Nathan Conroy, Mr Dutton accused the Prime Minister and Treasurer of devising rushed changes to stage three tax cuts as a “political response to their problem in Dunkley”, held by Labor on a margin of just over 6 per cent.

Touring a plumbing industry climate-action centre in southeast Queensland on Friday, Dr Chalmers urged Mr Dutton to “not stand in the way of a bigger tax cut for plumbers, sprinkler fitters, steelworkers, early educators and health workers”.

Dr Chalmers on Saturday will spruik that Australia’s core inflation (3.7 per cent in the year to ­December, excluding food and ­energy) is lower than in the US (3.9 per cent), Britain (5.1 per cent) and 20 other OECD nations.

Under Labor’s stage three revamp, the 37 per cent tax rate is ­retained and applied to incomes between $135,000 and $190,000, while the marginal tax rate for those earning between $18,200 and $45,000 is reduced from 19 per cent to 16 per cent.

The 30 per cent tax rate, which under the Coalition’s legislated tax cuts would have applied on incomes from $45,000 to $200,000, will be paid on incomes between $45,000 and $135,000.