Topics: Income taxes surging under Labor; Federal Budget; Labor’s cost of living crisis

 

E&OE  

 

KENNY HEATLEY: Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor will begin a pre-budget campaign blitz across a number of marginal seats ahead of the Federal Budget. The Coalition released new research revealing the average Australian paid $3,500 more in tax last financial year than before the Labor government was elected. Mr Taylor is under pressure to promise tax cuts in the Coalition’s first term if it returns to power. That’s despite multiple Liberal MP’s raising concerns Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will not put forward a tax cut policy before the election. The Shadow Treasurer will be targeting a number of battleground seats including Aston, Goldstein and Bass. And joining me live now is Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor. Good to see you Angus. Thanks so much for coming on the program. What’s your key message that you are taking to voters in these key electorates.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, the key message that we’ll see in the lead up to, and good to see you Kenny, the key message we’ll be leaving voters with over the next week or so is that Labor is raiding their household budgets because they’ve trashed their own government budget I should say. I mean, at the end of the day, what we've seen here from Labor is that they are raiding household budgets, $3,500 for the average Australian, $7,000 for double income families to fund their reckless spending, to fund the fact that they've trashed their own budget and this is Australians paying for a Labor government that simply can't manage its own budget and we pay the price for it. 
There's an old saying that when left wing governments run out of money, they come after yours and that's exactly what we are seeing right here, Kenny and I'll be saying that as I get around Australia, eight different seats across three different states over the coming days and most importantly, what we'll be saying is that Labor does not have, does not have a pathway back to the standard of living that Australians had when Labor came to power, it's been trashed, the standard of living has dropped by almost 8% since Labor came to power, and the result of that is that Australians are struggling. That's what you get with a bad Labor government.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

So, by highlighting this extra tax paid since the Albanese Government was elected, does that mean that the Coalition will deliver income tax cuts in your first term if elected? 


 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, Kenny, we've been very clear that we will re-establish a tax to GDP cap. We will re-establish the fiscal guard rails that we're in place before Labor came to power. We'll also give small businesses accelerated depreciation. 
We've already announced important tax policies, but we'll wait to see as well what's in the budget. I mean, we know Labor has been trashing the budget. The last budget had red ink as far as the I could see. 
Let's see what's there. We're going find out in the next week or so what the state the budget is, my hope is that it will be a vastly improved situation that they’ll re-establish the fiscal guardrails that we had in place when we were in power, that they'll have a pathway to restore the standard of living that's been trashed since they came to power, but…

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

So, can I just ask Angus, you're only going to deliver income tax cuts or address bracket creep if there's an improved budget position on March 25?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, Kenny, it’s your job to get me to announce policies ahead at a time and I won't do that, but what I will say is that we'll see a budget next week and we'll have a sense then of how badly Labor has trashed the situation, to what extent have they raided household budgets to bolster their own budget? 
To what extent have they raided household budgets to support their reckless spending? 36,000 additional Canberra based public servants over $100 billion of spending that we've opposed since they've been in government. We'll wait and see what comes out of that. 
There's been a lot hidden in their budgets. We'll see a little bit more, no doubt next week, but most of all what we want to see is a re-establishment of those fiscal guard rails, a re-establishment of the tax to GDP cap, backing small business, making sure that we have a pathway back to a standard of living that has been trashed under Labor. At the moment in their own plans, we don't get back to where Labor inherited the standard of living that was inherited by Labor when they came to power until 2030 or 2031 Kenny. I mean, this is a hopeless situation. 
So, let's see what they come out with, but we as always believe in lower, simpler, fairer taxes and will continue to prosecute the case on them.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

Cyclone Alfred has produced a $1.2 billion hit to the economy. The Treasurer will say, and it will cause more food inflation. 
This comes at a time when forecasts are pointing to falling revenue. Should we expect even larger deficits when the budget is handed down next week?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we we're all feeling for those who have been impacted by Cyclone Alfred, but at the end of the day, if you've got a government that's been managing its budget, it can absorb these sorts of things. It has the shock absorbers built into its budget and then the economy where it can absorb, and the truth is that we've got Jim Chalmers out there looking for another excuse for why he’s failing as Treasurer. He's a doctor of spin. He's not a Doctor of Economics; he doesn't understand basic economics. 
You can't keep raiding household budgets and expect that they can get ahead. You can't keep raiding household budgets and expect that the aspirational Australia that I grew up in and that I want to see in this country looking forward is re-established. He simply doesn't get it. 


 

KENNY HEATLEY:

And yet Peter Dutton has said that he's not going to deliver tax cuts unless the budget allows it. There's a potential we're going have an even worse budget position. It's looking unlikely that the Coalition is going to deliver tax cuts even after the budget is handed down.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we've already announced important tax cuts that'll impact many Australian families. For instance, allowing small businesses to permanently access accelerated depreciation, we’re increasing the cap for accelerated depreciation. Making small small businesses FBT exempt under certain circumstances. I mean, these are important tax reductions, tax cuts that will allow Australians who run small businesses to make investments, and that will be good for all Australians, Kenny. 
What happens is when a small business invests, it creates good jobs, it puts itself in a position where it can pay its employees more, and it strengthens our economy and a strong economy is the key to beating inflation, boosting growth, fixing the housing supply, and of course, alongside all of that we've got to make sure we rebalance immigration, which is something that Labor has completely failed on. So, their economic management has been truly appalling, the result of that Australians have gone badly backwards. We we need to restore the standard of living that Australians had when Labor came to power.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

Shadow 
Treasurer Angus Taylor, appreciate your time today. Thank you.

 

ENDS.