A cabinet minister in Anthony Albanese‘s Labor government is adamant the Stage Three tax cuts for the wealthy are here to stay because they were an election promise.
Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic said dumping the policy in the May 9 Budget would be a breach of faith with voters, as a teal MP suggests her constituents want the government to ‘reconsider’ the tax relief.
‘I’m a firm believer, we’ve made the decision and we’ve expressed our position on that,’ Mr Husic told Radio National broadcaster Patricia Karvelas on Friday.
‘It’s something that we take very seriously, that if we’ve said one thing at an election, we’re going to make sure that we honour.
‘You can’t have political parties go to an election, take a position and then coming out of that, then take steps to try and dilute or move away from that.
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A cabinet minister in Anthony Albanese ‘s Labor government is adamant the Stage Three tax cuts for the wealthy are here to stay because they were an election promise. Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic (right) said dumping the policy in the May 9 Budget would be a breach of faith with voters, as a teal MP suggests her constituents want the government to ‘reconsider’ the tax relief
‘Parties have been criticised for that in times past and I’d be very careful of engaging in that kind of behaviour.’
Those earning more than $200,000 stand to get back $9,075, compared with now, when the number of tax brackets is slashed from five to four from July 1, 2024 for the first time since 1984.
A new 30 per cent marginal tax rate will apply for those earning $45,000 to $200,000 under a policy which former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced in the April 2019 Budget.
This will reduce the income tax burden for nine million Australians.
Someone earning $80,000, a level shy of Australia’s average full-time salary of $94,000, would get back just $875.
An Australian on $60,000 – a level slightly below the median or middle income of $62,400 – would get back $375.
While Labor supported the Stage Three tax cuts in Opposition, an independent teal MP representing an affluent Melbourne electorate, Zoe Daniel, has released a survey showing 78 per cent of constituents who responded wanted the Stage Three tax cuts to be ‘reconsidered’.
‘Given that many of those people would stand to benefit from the tax cut, I think that’s significant,’ the member for Goldstein told the ABC.
Mr Husic said MPs were welcome to canvass the views of their electorate,
Those earning more than $200,000 stand to get back $9,075, compared with now, when the number of tax brackets is slashed from five to four from July 1, 2024 for the first time since 1984 (pictured is a consumer in Melbourne)
‘I understand why they’ll want to raise those issues but we took a commitment to the election,’ he said.
The Australian Parliamentary Budget Office estimated the Stage Three tax cuts would cost $243billion over 10 financial years from 2024-25, in response to a question from Greens leader Adam Bandt last year.
Gross government debt is set to surpass the $1trillion mark in 2023-24, making up 40.8 per cent of gross domestic product.
Labor is unlikely to continue with the low and middle-income tax offsets, which offered relief for those earning up to $126,000.
That means 4.6million Australians earning $48,000 to $90,000 will miss out on $1,500 in relief or $1,080 plus last year’s one-off $420 cost of living offset.
The relief measure expired on June 2022, which means those filling out their tax returns for 2022-23 won’t be received anything to help deal with the cost of living crisis.
