Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been asked about the Coalition’s tax policy after Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his fourth federal budget last night.
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has already labelled a newly-unveiled tax cut an election “bribe” that the Coalition would not follow.
Speaking on Today this morning, Dutton slammed the budget’s tax cut as a “cruel hoax”.
Asked by Nine Political Editor Charles Croucher if the Coalition would follow through on its claim of being the party of “lower, simpler, fairer taxes”, Dutton was tight-lipped.
“We’ll have the budget in reply response on Thursday, as you point out, and we’ll save our detail for then,” Dutton said.
Asked directly if “the party of Robert Menzies” would be going to the election with a higher income tax ratio than Labor, Dutton again played it close to the chest.
In pictures: The federal budget newspaper front pages
“Our party is always about making sure that we manage the economy and that we manage national security, that we keep Australians safe,” he said.
“So we have to accept, firstly, that we live in a very uncertain world.”
Later in the interview, Dutton did confirm that cost of living relief, home ownership, and national security were priorities for the Coalition.
