Labor plays down chances of post-budget poll boost
Finance Minister Jim Chalmers is playing down the government’s chances of a post-budget popularity boost as he defends controversial changes to investment taxes.
After a week dominated by the competing economic visions of Labor and the coalition, Dr. Chalmers accused the opposition of proposing a $250 billion hit to the budget over the next decade.
The Coalition wants to index tax brackets in line with inflation, giving all Australians an effective tax cut every year from 2028/29. The Labor Party announced a $250 discount every year for all working Australians.
“What (Opposition Leader) Angus Taylor is proposing to do is pump the most money into the economy when inflation is already at its highest,” Dr Chalmers told the ABC’s Insider program on Sunday.
Mr Taylor rejected the proposal, arguing that leaving the current settings in place would mean a de facto tax increase due to tier shifting as people are pushed into higher tiers through wage inflation.
He told Sky News: “If Labor wants to shout about the $200 billion in income tax increases they’re planning, it’ll all come from the private sector.”
“This is a plan to expand government and shrink the private sector forever.”
The coalition says its policy will cost about $22.5 billion over the next four years, fully offset by savings elsewhere in the budget.
The government’s plan to roll back negative gearing and a capital gains tax cut has not been adequately met and is widely seen among voters as an unfulfilled election promise, an opinion poll published on Sunday found.
According to Freshwater research published by News Corp, 44 per cent of voters think the budget will make their homes worse off, while 13 per cent think it will improve their situation.
More than 80 per cent of those polled think Labor has broken its promise to keep property tax cuts unchanged.
When asked if he was disappointed with the survey results, Dr. Chalmers said he did not expect support for the government to increase due to budget reforms.
“I would be more surprised if there was a jump,” he said, pointing to the oil crisis and the “predictable fear campaign” as factors reducing support for the government.
“Obviously we didn’t do this to get a boost in the polls. We did it to increase the first home ownership rate.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said young people who wanted to invest in housing rather than buying a home to live in could still do so.
“If they currently have a negative property, then there will be no change in that, but if they want to make a new investment, they will invest in a new property,” he told reporters.
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