Tax cut overhaul sets up Senate clash
Anthony Albanese is facing a legislative clash in the Senate over Labor’s stage-three tax cuts after the Greens demanded ‘better’ for those on lower incomes.
Anthony Albanese is facing a legislative clash in the Senate over his push to overhaul Labor’s stage three tax cuts, after the Greens vowed to block the changes amid concern they do not go far enough to help low- and middle-income earners.
Greens leader Adam Bandt on Friday said his party would push the government to reshape the tax cuts – which retains the 37 per cent tax bracket for workers earning more than $135,000 and applies a 45 per cent top tax bracket to incomes above $190,000 – saying voters should be “entitled to expect more from Labor than just being slightly less crap than Scott Morrison”.
The Prime Minister signalled he would be willing to negotiate with the left-wing party – which will hold the balance of power if the Coalition blocks the changes – saying he would talk with all of the crossbenchers in order to gain crucial upper-house support.
Mr Albanese left open the possibility of working with the Coalition to pass the changes, noting Peter Dutton had not yet revealed whether the opposition would block the amended package.
If the Coalition voted against the amendments, the government would need to secure the support of the Greens plus two Senate crossbenchers in order to pass the legislation through the upper house.
“I think these are sensible changes,” Mr Albanese said. ”We will argue for it. And the Coalition, I’ve noticed yesterday, Peter Dutton wasn’t even saying necessarily that they’ll vote against it.
“We’ll wait and see. We’ll wait for them to go through their mechanisms as well. We’ll talk with all of the crossbenchers.”
The Opposition Leader on Friday said he was looking closely at the changes before coming to a formal position, but the Liberal Party would not “break our promise in a way that the Prime Minister has”.
“We don’t desert Australians who we have promised an outcome and we think at the moment this is the latest example of Labor trashing the economy,” Mr Dutton said.
“So, we’ll have a lot more to say about our tax policy. But we need to understand what it is the Prime Minister has announced.”
However, Coalition frontbencher Jonathon Duniam on Friday said he understood the party would stick to the original legislated stage three tax cuts with no changes.
“My understanding of what we’ll be doing is exactly sticking to what we promised we’d do
before the last election,” he told Sky News.
ACT independent senator David Pocock flagged his support for the reforms, saying the changes were fairer and better fit for purpose for the economic environment.
Greens defector and now independent senator Lidia Thorpe said Labor’s package was an improvement on the previously legislated plan but that the cuts still overwhelmingly benefited people who were already well off.
“There have been concerns raised with me that this tax package could further entrench income inequality between First Peoples and the rest of the population,” Senator Thorpe said. “So I’ll be seeking further advice on the equitably of the package for First Peoples.”
The Weekend Australian understands former Liberal senator and now independent David Van is open to working with the government to pass the amended package but needed to see more detail.
United Australia Party’s Ralph Babet said the tax cuts did not go far enough, and called for the government to cut taxes further across all income brackets.
Selling the revised stage three package on Friday, Jim Chalmers accused the Coalition of being “diabolically out of touch” with the nation’s cost of living crisis, arguing 84 per cent of Australians will receive a bigger tax cut than under the Coalition-era policy.
Mr Bandt, who has previously sought for the tax cuts to be scrapped altogether, cited the Housing Australia Future Fund as an instance where the “Greens pressure” worked.
“We’ll be pushing Labor to do better, because in the middle of a housing rental crisis we think that the government can do better,” he said.
“If you’re an average income earner and your average rents have gone up by $100 a week, and average mortgage payments have gone up by nearly $200, then your $15 a week is gonna be swallowed up very quickly.”
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