Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley says she has no faith Anthony Albanese will follow through with his promise not to backflip on the Coalition’s stage three tax cuts.
Speaking at a press conference in Albury on Saturday, Ms Ley said Mr Albanese had failed to guarantee the tax cuts would go ahead in a way “that gives people the confidence and the comfort that they need”.
“I listened to Anthony Albanese yesterday at his very brief press conference and it sounded to me the plans haven’t changed today but the plans may change in the future,” she said.
“We have not heard an unequivocal guarantee from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that unchanged, untouched, as promised this tax relief will go ahead.”
The Prime Minister was grilled about the measure on Friday amid growing concerns his government is looking at going back on its election promise to keep the legislated cuts in place.
Mr Albanese responded to questions about whether Labor will seek to amend the stage three tax cuts by saying: “The Government hasn’t changed our position”.
But Ms Ley believes the Labor ministers and Treasurer Jim Chalmers were “clearly softening up the Australian people to walk away from these tax cuts”.
The third stage will also see the 37 per cent tax bracket scrapped all together, while Australians earning between $45,000 and $200,000 will come under the 30 per cent bracket which will be cut from 32.5 per cent.
The cuts have been scrutinised by the crossbench with at least nine out of 18 crossbenchers in favour of delaying them or having them axed amid ongoing cost of living pressures.
The Prime Minister was quizzed on the issue several times when he faced reporters after delivering a speech to the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue on Friday.
He accused the Opposition of “playing the old politics” as he responded to a question about whether he could clarify whether he planned to amend the tax cuts.
“The Government hasn’t changed our position, and I’ve been out and about this week. This weekend, I’ll be in Western Australia. I’m here in Western Sydney today,” Mr Albanese said.
“It appears that the Opposition haven’t got quite the memo. They’re still looking for areas of disagreement, of playing the old politics.
“There’s been meetings, obviously, this week about ERC and our processes. We’ll continue to get on with making sure that we deliver a budget that is responsible, that acknowledges the pressures that are on it.”