Subjects: The Prime Minister’s shocking betrayal on the stage three tax cuts; Katy Gallagher’s refusal to rule out changes to negative gearing; the Prime Minister’s lack of leadership and credibility; Labor’s cost of living crisis; the RBA.
E&OE.
SARAH ABO:
Well, Peter Dutton has slammed Treasurer Jim Chalmers, accusing him of robbing from the rich to give to the poor in a quote, ‘Robin Hood’ act on tax cuts. Let’s bring in the Opposition Leader who’s in Melbourne now.
Good morning Peter. Good to see you.
PETER DUTTON:
‘Morning Sarah, you too.
SARAH ABO:
Now, if voters are going to be better off, will you really stand in the way of these changes?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Sarah, the Liberal Party has always been the Party of lower taxes, and that’s going to continue.
Obviously, the Prime Minister has been desperately worried about the outcome of the Dunkley by-election, which is due on the 2nd of March. So, a lot of it’s driven by politics for the PM, and I just don’t think you can believe anything he says.
As you saw in the train wreck interview with Karl yesterday with Katy Gallagher, they can’t hold a position in relation to tax from morning to night, and I don’t think that anybody in Dunkley or around the country could be guaranteed that if the Labor Party wins the next election, that these tax cuts will stay in place.
So, there’s a lot of uncertainty and Labor’s doing a lot to damage the economy at the moment, and families unfortunately are paying that when they turn up to the grocery supermarket check out – food prices are up by 9 per cent, we know that gas is up almost by 30 per cent, electricity is up by 20 per cent and a lot of families are really struggling.
SARAH ABO:
I mean, if we’re going to talk about holding a position then Peter, what’s your Party’s position? I mean the Coalition is at odds over what decision to make here, whether to support these tax cuts.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, no, we’re not. We’re working through the figures. There are big numbers here, and our argument is that there should be incentive in the system. Now, we legislated for stage one, two and three, and we put in place support for lower and middle income people through a tax offset, which Labor abolished. So at the moment, people are paying 27 per cent more tax under Mr Albanese than they did when the Coalition was in Government…
SARAH ABO:
But you don’t know what you’re going to do yet, do you Pete? I mean at the end of the day, you know, your own electorate is among those who are going to benefit greatly from these changes to the tax cuts – some 85 per cent of them. You don’t want to take money away from them, do you?
PETER DUTTON:
And we’re not going to. I’ve been very clear about the fact that…
SARAH ABO:
So you’re not going to stand in the way of these changes, as a Party?
PETER DUTTON:
I’ve been very clear that the Liberal Party is the Party of lower taxes. We always have been, we always will be, because we manage the economy more effectively.
So, we’ll announce our position in due course, but we think there’s a massive black hole in what the Government’s doing at the moment. We don’t understand how they can be arguing that they’ll take an extra $28 billion over the next few years. It’s not 1.8 million taxpayers who are worse off, it’s actually 4 million taxpayers over the course of the next decade, just with people’s inflation and with wage increases that you get each year at work, people quickly move through the tax brackets, and it’s really hitting them between the eyes. People know that they’ve got less money to spend at the moment and things are harder under Anthony Albanese, there’s no question about that. So, we’ll make our announcement, but we’re going through the numbers at the moment so that we get it right and we’ll make our announcement in due course.
But I think at the moment people are rightly concentrating on the fact that the Prime Minister promised a position 100 times – like he’s doing on negative gearing at the moment – and then he turned around and broke it.
SARAH ABO:
I mean, it seems unlikely you’re going to block these changes because they will benefit more Australians. I mean the focus should be then on other cost of living relief, shouldn’t it? Shouldn’t you just turn your attention to that and move on with that?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, it should be on a few things Sarah. I mean obviously it should be on energy because I think the Government’s renewables only policy at the moment is driving up electricity prices, as I say, by 20 per cent, gas by 29 per cent, and it’s affecting every element of the supply chain. So, every farmer has got additional costs for their fertiliser, every farmer’s got additional costs for cold rooms, the glass manufacturers for the bottles of the product that you’re buying in Coles, or Woolies, or IGA, or Aldi, whatever it might be. All of that is driving the inflation rate at the moment, which the Government’s keeping higher than what should be the case.
SARAH ABO:
At least there is some positive news on that front – inflation. But I mean, let’s get to negative gearing quickly. You mentioned before, obviously that interview with Karl yesterday. There’s no definitive move yet from the Government to change negative gearing. Do you believe them?
PETER DUTTON:
No I don’t, and I’d give you this guarantee that we are not going to attack aspiration, we’re not going to attack people that work hard and provide for their families. It’s okay in the Labor Party if you are a union super fund, or if you’re an offshore investor, you can own thousands of homes and it’s tax deductible; but if you say to an Australian, ‘well, you’ve got one or two rental properties, and the Labor Party’s going to come after you’. They haven’t been to an election with that policy, it would dramatically change the way in which our economy works and not for the better, and I think a lot of families rely on that rental income, particularly when they’re going into retirement and a lot of renters who can’t afford their own homes…
SARAH ABO:
Yeah.
PETER DUTTON:
…need landlords to provide that housing for them. That’s the reality of our housing market.
SARAH ABO:
Well, on that, do then back to the Premiers who are calling for the RBA to cut rates, given that we’ve had this positive inflation news?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Sarah, look, they’re at odds with their Labor colleagues, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. The independence of the Reserve Bank is important so that there’s not political interference. Somebody like Steven Miles or Jacinta Allan and others, frankly, they’d be better off concentrating on how they can deal with the ambulance ramping disaster and youth crime at the moment, which is out of control in many parts of the country.
So, I think they should concentrate on fixing up their own problems at the moment. We want to see interest rates come down as quickly as possible. Because of the Government’s decisions interest rates have stayed high for longer than what otherwise should be the case. So yes, I want to see them come down as quickly as possible, but the Reserve Bank’s going to deal with that. If the Government, which is spending about $200 billion extra than what was projected only a couple of years ago, that money is going into the economy and driving up inflation, which drives up interest rates. That’s why people are seeing much higher prices at the checkout, as I say – that’s the reality of the Labor Government.
SARAH ABO:
There’s a bit to get through, isn’t there Peter?
PETER DUTTON:
Sure is.
SARAH ABO:
Thanks so much for joining us from Melbourne. Appreciate it.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Sarah.
[ends]