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LETTER: Broken promise

Dr Anne Webster, in The Weekly Advertiser, February 7, refers to the Federal Government’s changes to the phase three tax cuts as a ‘mid-January crisis brainstorm’ and a ‘thought-bubble’. 

However, the changes were suggested by Treasury as way of reducing cost-of-living pressures on all taxpayers, not just giving $9000 to people on $200,000 per year and yet very little to people on $45,000 per year and nothing to people earning below $45,000. 

Remember that median income in 2021 was about $54,890 according to the ABS, so most low-income earners were not getting a tax cut at all under the old phase three changes. 

Labor’s tax proposal addresses bracket creep, as 83 percent of taxpayers would remain better off over the next decade – Grattan Institute. 



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Dr Webster then says the original phase three tax cuts were important to reward hardworking Australians. 

I suggest that all Australians tend to be hardworking and not just those on higher incomes. 

People earning $200,000 are typically going to work full-time regardless and it is a small cohort, thus having little effect on workforce participation. 

But the new tax cuts for lower and middle-income earners will boost workforce participation, especially among women who work part-time. 

I agree that Labor has lied repeatedly about not changing their position on the phase three tax cuts and voters might not be able to trust them in the future. 

But, unfortunately, all politicians sometimes lie. Recently this has been Howard with core and non-core promises, Rudd about his carbon pollution reduction scheme, Gillard about her carbon tax, Abbott about changes to pensions and unemployment benefits, Turnbull about jobs created by the Adani coal mine, Shorten’s scare campaign on the privatisation of Medicare, Joyce about $100 roasts, Morrison about his holiday in Hawaii during the bushfires, Friedenberg about the budget being back in the black and now Albanese about the phase three tax cuts. 

Ten days ago, Opposition Leader Dutton demanded the government call an election on this broken promise, but he has since waived the changes through. 

He has changed his mind. It is a bigger tax cut for 11 million low and middle-income taxpayers and a smaller tax cut for 1.8 million high-income taxpayers. 

Time will tell if these 11 million Australians don’t mind a broken promise if they benefit from it. 

At the moment, more than 60 percent of people are in favour of the changes.

Robert Blakeley

Horsham

 

The entire February 14, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!