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Coalition to wave through stage 3 tax cut changes

2024.02.06

· In short: The government's tax cuts will pass parliament with the support of the Coalition

· The federal opposition will attempt to amend the bill but will not stand in the way if that fails.

· What's next: Peter Dutton said his party would take a comprehensive policy to further cut taxes to the next federal election.

The Coalition has agreed at a partyroom meeting to wave through the federal government's changes to the stage 3 tax cuts.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has announced the Coalition will attempt to amend the bill but will not stand in the way if those amendments fail.

The decision means the government will not have to negotiate with the Greens or crossbench to pass the tax cut change through the Senate.

The revised cuts will return hundreds of dollars more to low and middle-income Australians at the expense of halving the benefits the wealthiest Australians were due to receive.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last month announced the government would break an election promise and attempt to amend tax cuts legislated by the former government, shifting the gains towards middle-income earners.

'Bad policy', but Coalition will support revised cuts

Peter Dutton said the government had betrayed the public's trust and labelled the changes "bad policy", but the Coalition would support them anyway.

"The Coalition is not going to stand in the way of providing support to Australians who are doing it tough," Mr Dutton said.

"We are supporting this change not to support the prime minister’s lie but to support families who need help now."

Mr Dutton said the party would take a comprehensive policy to further cut taxes to the next federal election.

But the Liberal leader indicated his party would not attempt to roll back the changes.

"We had stage 3 there, which was fully funded … they have taken the money from the stage 3 tax cuts and they have applied it to their own policy," he said.

"We can’t reverse that in opposition and we wouldn’t seek to reverse that in government.

"Do we walk away from the [original] principles of stage 3? Absolutely not."

Speaking ahead of the first sitting day of parliament, Mr Albanese dared the Liberal Party to oppose the changes if its outrage was genuine.

"If they are fair dinkum, then their response must be to not only oppose what we are putting forward with our legislation we'll introduce today, but to promise to roll it back," Mr Albanese said.

"Unless they do that, then it's all just wind, it's all just politics."

Teals back tax cuts

Independent MP Allegra Spender also announced her decision to back the government's proposed tax cuts, in a sign of how the planned changes had been received in some of Australia's wealthier electorates.

Ms Spender's vote was not needed for the changes to pass through the lower house, but her seat of Wentworth is one of the wealthiest electorates in the country, and Ms Spender said even there the cuts remained popular.

"My consultation with the Wentworth community has shown widespread support for the government's changes," Ms Spender said.

"Of the nearly 1,700 people who responded to our community survey, more than two-thirds backed the decision to reshape the tax cuts, including many people who will be worse off as a result.

"So many people have spoken to me about how they're struggling with cost of living pressures and these changes will give them support when they really need it."

Fellow teal MP Monique Ryan will also support the cuts, which were introduced to parliament today.