‘Hit the rich harder’: Greens threat to Albo over proposed tax cuts
The Prime Minister could be forced to slash tax cuts even further for one group of Aussies if he’s to get the controversial policy over the line.
The Greens are threatening to blow up Anthony Albanese’s proposed $313 billion in income tax cuts to force the PM to hit the rich even harder and give workers rent relief.
The Prime Minister could be forced to slash the value of tax cuts for the rich even further to secure the Greens’ support for his tax backflip.
Under the government’s plan, all Australians will receive a tax cut from July 1, but workers earning less than about $146,000 will win a bigger tax cut than previously planned.
High income earners will have the value of their promised tax cut slashed, in some cases by half from $9,000 a year to $4,500.
But because the original tax cuts are already legislated, the Prime Minister must return back to parliament to get his new package approved.
That means securing the support of the Liberals and Peter Dutton – who oppose slashing the tax cuts in half for high income earners – or relying on a coalition of the Greens and the crossbench.
The Greens have now released a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis of “Labor’s reheated Stage 3 Tax Cuts package” revealing the bottom 20 per cent of earners will only receive 0.4 per cent ($100 million) of the $23.3 billion benefit in the first year, while the top 20 per cent (highest income quintile) will receive 50 per cent ($11.7 billion) of the benefit.
The top tax bracket still wins big from Labor’s tax cuts, with Labor spending over $84b on tax cuts for those earning over $180,000, over a quarter of the cost of the whole $318b package. (This compares with a $91b cost over 10 years to get dental into Medicare.)
Six times as much revenue will be given to those in the top tax bracket (earning over $180,000 a year) – who pay substantially more tax – compared to the millions of casual, part-time workers earning under $45,000).
“The numbers don’t lie. These Liberal-lite tax cuts still benefit the wealthy and leave everyday people behind," Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP.
“Labor’s Stage 3.1 tax cuts will increase inequality. The Greens will fight for more for low and middle income earners.
“Under Labor, the top 20 per cent get 50 per cent of the benefit, but the bottom 20 per cent only get 0.4 per cent.
“Labor’s spending $84b on tax cuts to politicians and the wealthy, money that could help get dental into Medicare instead.
”Labor’s giving politicians and billionaires $4,500 a year while average income earners only get an extra $15 a week.
“Rents have gone up by about $100 a week under Labor’s housing and rental crisis and mortgages almost $200 a week. People suffering through Labor’s housing and rental crisis are being offered scraps, while Labor’s giving the wealthy money they don’t need.”
The Greens spokesperson for Economic Justice Senator Nick McKim said the proposed changes were only “very slightly less bad than the other mob.”
“The PM claimed “no-one left behind” at the NPC but it is clear as day that the people left behind here are on Jobseeker, Youth Allowance, part time workers and renters,’’ he said.
“The government is choosing to spend $318 billion dollars, and they’re spending a big chunk of it on people who quite simply do not need it.
“Men get more than women and the gender inequality will get worse.
“Tax cuts for politicians, CEOs and billionaires means service cuts for everyone else. This is money that could go into public schools. Expanding Medicare. The NDIS. Public housing.
“It’s disgraceful that the Labor government would choose $4500 for every politician, CEO and billionaire over doing literally anything that would deliver real cost of living relief.”
‘Tax cut for every Australian taxpayer’
Anthony Albanese has urged voters to “trust me” has he dodged questions over whether he’s open to breaking his promise not to touch negative gearing.
The Prime Minister has defended his backflip over the Stage 3 tax cuts today stressing while the changes will deliver a smaller tax cut to high income earners the vast majority of workers are winners.
“We’ll deliver a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer, not just some,’’ Mr Albanese said.
“We know that particularly low and middle income earners are under real financial pressure.
“And so when you have that evidence before you, you have to listen to people. And that is what we have done.”
Mr Albanese then added that voters “can trust me” regardless of the broken election promise.
“And Australians can trust me to be prepared to make difficult decisions, not the easy decision. That is the priority that I have, putting people before politics,’’ he said.
But it was when questions turned to housing and the impact of negative gearing that the Prime Minister changed the subject to talk about “free TAFE”.
Negative gearing occurs when the cost of owning a rental property outweighs the income it generates each year. This creates a taxable loss, which can normally be offset against other income including your wage or salary, to provide tax savings.
Some Labor MPs support limits on negative gearing arguing that it would improve housing affordability – a question that was put to the PM on Rockhampton radio.
“But the question remains that just only days before announcing those changes, you were saying there wouldn’t be changes, and now we’re looking at the same situation with negative gearing,’’ he was asked.
“No, I said that we hadn’t changed our position, and we didn’t until the Cabinet made that determination last Tuesday,’’ Mr Albanese replied.
“But what we have had is week after week, month after month, a call to do more on cost of living. Now, we’ve done an enormous amount on cost of living. We’ve had our energy relief plan, we’ve had cheaper child care, cheaper medicines, Fee Free TAFE have benefited 300,000 Australians.
“But this package is aimed squarely at Middle Australia. It means that for the average worker they’ll get double the tax cut. And for the average working family, with both people working, they’ll get more than double.
“So, this is about the right decision based upon the facts that are before us right now, and it is the right thing to do.
“And I note that the Coalition have said at one stage last week they changed their position during the week. They came out and said that they would reverse this tax cut and that would mean increasing taxation for 12 million Australians, is what they said they would do. Now, it’s not clear what their position is this week, but that was certainly their position last week.”
Peter Dutton has declared Anthony Albanese’s leadership “dead, buried, cremated” warning that voters will not accept “a liar as PM” over his broken tax cuts promise.
Liberal leader Peter Dutton warned the voters will not “support a liar as prime minister” and that the ALP caucus had made a “fatal error” in backflipping on an election promise.
“Australians will be bitterly disappointed because they are not voting for someone who is straight up and down, who could tell the truth and stand by what he believed in,’’ Mr Dutton told 2GB radio.
“That is not Anthony Albanese.”
“I do think Chalmers and Bill Shorten and others have been rubbing their hands together at the moment thinking that the prime minister has finally destroyed credibility with the Australian public and the Australian public will not support a liar as a prime minister.”
“The Prime Minister has completely and utterly destroyed his credibility with the Australian public”, Mr Dutton said.
“And the Australian public won’t support a liar as Prime Minister.
“I don’t believe that he’ll have any credibility with the public in relation to any issue and he and Jim Chalmers promised on over 100 occasions that stage three tax cuts would remain in place,” he told 2GB.
“As it turns out, they took a decision in December, and they’ve got an ad campaign ready to roll. They already made the decision before Christmas and misled people.”
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