Newspoll: Voters snub Bill Shorten’s tax attack

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Shorten’s scare tactics have been blunted, with a vast majority of voters supporting company tax cuts.

Bill Shorten continues to trail Malcolm Turnbull as preferred Prime Minister.

Bill Shorten’s class-war attack on the big end of town has been blunted, with an overwhelming majority of voters supporting company tax cuts and more than one-third believing they should be ­implemented immediately rather than phased in over 10 years.

The strengthened support for corporate tax cuts in an exclusive Newspoll comes as the government slipped back in the two-party-preferred vote and Mr Shorten racked up the longest run of negative satisfaction ratings for any opposition leader since records were first taken in 1985.

The poll, conducted for The Australian, suggests Labor’s ­attempts to tie the government’s policy to recent banking scandals has been largely dismissed by voters, with 63 per cent backing tax cuts for corporate Australia.

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The results also challenge the opposition’s claim the reforms are politically toxic for the Turnbull government, as Mr Shorten vowed yesterday to wage war over the issue in the lead-up to the “super Saturday” by-elections on July 28.

“I am damn sure Australians do not want to give a $17 billion tax cut to the big banks, which have been proven, have been demonstrated to be ripping off consumers,” he told Labor’s Victorian state conference.

Yet even among Labor and Greens voters polled by Newspoll, more people supported dropping the corporate rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent either immediately or in line with the government’s 10-year phase in.

In a warning to the crossbench that it was out of step with community sentiment, 60 per cent of One Nation voters also backed the company tax cuts, undermining Pauline Hanson’s justification for welshing on a deal to support them because they were unpopular with her supporters.

Contrary to suggestions that the government would walk away from the cuts, it is expected it will put them to a vote in the Senate before parliament rises at the end of next month for the winter break.

This would extend to all businesses the tax cuts that currently apply to those with turnovers of less than $50 million a year and bring the rate down to a globally competitive 25 per cent.

Newspoll also shows the ­Coalition slipping back a point to trail Labor 52-48 on a two-party-preferred basis, while losing a point in primary support to 38 per cent. One Nation picked up two primary points.

The result marks a halt to the gains the Coalition had been making over the past two months, ­having got as close 49-51 in the most recent two polls, including one directly after the May 8 ­budget.

Malcolm Turnbull further ­extended his advantage as the preferred prime minister, gaining a point to lead 47 per cent to 30 per cent over Mr Shorten, who dropped a further two points to reach one of his lowest levels since the 2016 election.

One Nation’s support rose from 6 per cent to 8 per cent. The resurgence comes from a low base for the conservative minor party, which had had a continuous slide in popular support since last year.

In what will be a frustrating result for the government, the poll revealed that 63 per cent of voters now backed its company tax plan despite the Senate crossbench having effectively killed it off last week when Senator Hanson withdrew her support after a previous pledge to back it.

Senator Hanson said one reason she had reneged on her deal to support the plan was she believed they should be implemented ­immediately, in line with US ­President Donald Trump’s move to cut the corporate tax rate to 22 per cent.

This view was reflected among One Nation voters, with 32 per cent agreeing compared with 28 per cent backing a stepped ­approach over the decade.

Among Greens voters, 34 per cent wanted them done now compared with 16 per cent preferring them to be delayed and 39 per cent opposing them entirely.

Among Labor voters the split was 28 per cent in favour of an ­immediate implementation, 20 per cent in support of a longer time­frame, a combined level of ­support of 48 per cent compared with 45 per cent not wanting them at all.

Addressing the Victorian state conference yesterday, Mr Shorten vowed to campaign against the company tax cuts in the lead-up to the five by-elections on July 28, claiming the cuts would come at the ­expense of more schools and hospital funding.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann last week dismissed sug­gestions the government would walk away from the company tax cuts following Senator Hansen’s decision to back out of a deal to vote with the government in ­exchange for a range of demands.

“Let me assure you, I will not leave any stone unturned to land this important economic reform for Australia through the Senate,” Senator Cormann told The ­Australian.

“If we don’t get there, it won’t be because of a lack of a genuine and good-faith effort to secure a consensus through the Senate.

“The future job security, future job opportunities, career prospects and wage increases of nine out of 10 working Australians working in a private sector business depend on the future success and prof­itability of businesses here in ­Australia.”

The Newspoll of 1591 people nationally was conducted between May 24 and yesterday, and across metropolitan and regional areas.