Senate urged to pass stage three tax cuts

Jim Chalmers has urged the Coalition and Greens to pass the government’s stage three tax cut overhaul through the Senate, as the Coalition refines its attack on Labor over border security.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: Britta Campion/The Australian

Labor will use the coming sitting week to pass its Stage 3 tax cut revamp through the Senate ahead of the weekend’s Dunkley by-election, with Jim Chalmers urging the Coalition and the crossbench not to “stuff around” with cost-of-living relief for Australian households.

The week in politics will be dominated by the debate over tax-cuts, cost of living, housing policy and border security given the arrival of two groups of asylum seekers on the mainland within the past four months.

A total of 62 asylum-seekers – mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh – have been sent to Nauru since November, with the Coalition expected to continue targeting Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil.

On Thursday, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr will also address a rare joint sitting of the Australian parliament following Anthony Albanese’s visit to Manila in September. The address will come ahead of the 2024 ASEAN-Australia special summit in Melbourne next week.

On Sunday, the Treasurer ramped up the pressure on the Coalition and the Greens to pass Labor’s revamped tax cuts through the upper house.

“When Labor’s cost-of-living tax cuts come before the Senate this week, I urge the Coalition and the crossbench to do the right thing by their communities and the country,” Dr Chalmers said. “Labor’s economic plan is all about helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn.”

While the government focuses on the passage of its tax cut overhaul through the Senate to provide cost-of-living relief, its attention in the House of Representatives will turn to housing policy and its legislation for Labor’s “Help to Buy” scheme.

Under the housing legislation – a key ALP election commitment – the commonwealth would provide an equity contribution of up to 40 per cent for new homes and 30 per cent for existing homes to help 40,000 low and middle-income families into the market. The scheme, open to individuals earning up to $90,000 or couples earning up to $120,000, will enable Australians to buy a home with as a little as 2 per cent deposit.

But Labor faces being wedged by the Greens, with the support of the minor party now necessary for passage of the changes through parliament given the Coalition has said it will vote against the legislation.

Opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar told The Australian the Coalition would “oppose this Bill,” warning the Help to Buy scheme was replicating state-based shared equity schemes that already existed.

“NSW’s shared equity scheme is so unwanted that 94 per cent of its places are still available,” he said. “So how on earth could the Albanese government believe that what’s needed to address Australia’s housing crisis is even more shared equity places, which will largely go unused?”

The Greens will try to force the government to reconsider its position on negative gearing as part of its support for the Help to Buy changes. Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has previously said the minor party was willing to negotiate but that “right now there are millions of people who will never be able to buy a home”.

Parliament will also consider a range of legislation in the areas of tertiary education, social services, paid parental leave and combating foreign bribery.