Topics: Labors broken promise on stage three tax cuts 

E&OE   

PETER STEFANOVIC: 

The Prime Minister on the cusp of breaking a major election promise and this would be the second time after making changes to those with high super savings. Joining us live now is the Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor. Angus good morning. Some new detail out this morning. The 37% tax bracket to remain for workers earning more than 135k a year. That top tax bracket is now going to come in at $190,000 a year according to this report. So $150,000, that appears to be the bar. Those under it get a better break than those above it. Your turn, go. 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Let's see what finally transpires - there's been all sorts of stuff around Pete. But what I will say is this: this is an egregious betrayal of the Australian people. The Prime Minister and Treasurer lied over 100 times to the Australian people about these stage three tax cuts. They said they were committed to them, they said they were going to stick to them. And over 100 times they lied to the Australian people. They've been to two elections, two elections, Pete, and of course, both the Treasurer and the Prime Minister voted for them. So if there was ever, ever a breach of promises, the mother of all broken promises, this is it. This is it. It is an egregious betrayal of trust with the Australian people. And the truth is, Pete, that this Prime Minister's word and this Treasurer's word means absolutely nothing. It's a whole series of broken promises now. You're right in pointing out in the intro superannuation, but we've seen them, there's no way they're going to deliver their promise on the $275 electricity price reduction, franking credits they've been going after, and so on. And we've got an economy right now where inflation is rampant, it has shuddered to a halt. The only thing driving it is immigration. And the government thinks that the way to do this is to whack more tax on people who are going hard, who are trying to make ends meet, and frankly, who are struggling right now. 

PETER STEFANOVIC: 

Is an amendment still a broken promise? 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Oh Pete, come on. This is I mean, you know, there was no ambiguity about the Prime Minister's position on this. Over 100 times between him and the Treasurer, it's a straight out lie over 100 times. This is more than an amendment. It's a major change. There were three stages to these tax cuts. They work together and meant the tax cuts go right across the spectrum. And most importantly, it's about growing the economy, bringing inflation down and making sure that we're rewarding people for going hard. Rewarding those Australians who are having a crack, and frankly, this Prime Minister has decided to declare war on aspiration. I mean, that's the truth to this. Labor's never believed in aspiration, they don't like it. Well, we believe in it. And we're gonna keep fighting for it. 

PETER STEFANOVIC: 

As the Prime Minister said, though yesterday, everyone, all taxpayers, will still receive a tax break. So is that good enough? Is that anti aspirational? 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

He's broken a major promise that he promised over 100 times. I mean, you know if you can get past that you're doing well, you really are. I mean, it's just absolutely extraordinary. And you know, it shows a complete misunderstanding of how an economy works. Labor thinks the economy is like a pie, and you just divvy it up differently and nothing else changes. Well it will change. Because if you're not rewarding people for investing, taking risks, building businesses, creating jobs, paying taxes, then they simply won't do it. And this is what Labor simply doesn't understand. They think you can change the way you cut the pie 100 different times, and it's all okay, well, it doesn't work like that. And that's why we have an economy that's crashed, and is only driven by immigration now. [inaudible] 

PETER STEFANOVIC: 

So, Angus, is that what you'd say? You know, when folks say "ah, well those at the higher end they can afford it. You know, you can clip off the top to give off the bottom." How would you respond to that? 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

I mean, the truth that...well, I'll make several comments about it. The first is, it's the stage three tax cuts. There've been stage one and two, which was all about bringing down tax cuts across the board. The purpose of this whole package was to say to people, if you go hard across any likely tax bracket, you're gonna end up with, despite inflation - rampant inflation as we've seen in the last 18 months - you can know that you're going to keep 70 cents in the dollar. So why do you do that Pete? You do it so people have a crack. You do it so people make investments. You do it so people create jobs. You do it so people take risks. That's the whole purpose of the exercise. Labor's decided to walk away from that. You know, there used to be a party of aspiration under Hawke and Keating. They're not under Albanese. This guy is so desperate, he's prepared to trash a commitment he made 100 times and turn each of those 100 commitments by him and the Treasurer into lies. 

PETER STEFANOVIC: 

Yeah, I mean, is a class warfare? We've already talked about this change. And then you've got the other change as well, relating to the high super accounts. Is this return to class warfare? 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Absolutely, it is. You know, you don't beat inflation in a slow economy with class warfare, we learned this. This is one of the great lessons of history. In the 70s and 80s, I grew up at that time, I saw people thinking that that was how you beat inflation in a slow economy. It's not, Pete. We learned the lesson of this, but Albanese didn't learn it. He was too busy learning about Marxist economics. I mean, this guy, he is, you know, has no comprehension of what drives an economy. And that's why he's prepared to lie that many times. That's why he's prepared to betray the Australian people.  

PETER STEFANOVIC: 

I don't know if you can answer this in 30 seconds Angus, but you know, we remain a progressive tax system with some of the highest personal tax rates in the world. The stage three cuts were designed to simplify it all. So if it is reversed, what does that do to bracket creep? What does that do to productivity? 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well, it's exactly right. Certainly, what's very clear is it says to Australians, if you work hard and have a crack, the government's going to take more from you. So if that's ever an incentive for people - a disincentive - for people to have a go, you know, Labor's done it done unbelievably well. And ultimately, it is class warfare. It is a war on aspiration and Labor's happy to go down this path. You know, they love to divide the Australian people. They tried to do it last year with a referendum, they're going to try and do it this year with their new class war. This is what Albanese believes in. This is the Prime Minister we've got. Frankly, he doesn't deserve to be Prime Minister if he's going to lie to the Australian people in this way.  

PETER STEFANOVIC: 

As you said in that first response, we'll wait for the finer details to come later on the day. Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, good to have you with us this morning. Thank you. 

ENDS.