Any decision to extend the halving of the fuel tax will come after the upcoming federal budget as Labor leaves the door open to changes for investment properties and family trusts.
The three-month cut to the fuel excise kicked in at the start of April, resulting in the cost of petrol and diesel being slashed by 26.3 cents a litre as the federal government responded to soaring prices caused by the US-led war on Iran.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said he would expect a call to be made on any extension following the May 12 budget being handed down.
“We need to really see how the overseas conflict evolves, how prices evolve for oil,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“It is doing what it was intended to do. It’s not a silver bullet, but it is providing material support for people.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to make changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing in the budget as the government positions itself to tackle intergenerational equity and increasing support for far-right political parties.
Dr Mulino didn’t rule out further charges when asked about tax reform in the budget.
“I’m not going to announce the specific things that may or may not be in the budget, but I think the Australian public would hope that we would look at tax in the context of these broader themes of intergenerational fairness and productivity,” he said.
Coalition MPs have largely opposed changes to capital gains tax, arguing the shift could reduce the supply of new homes.
Nationals leader Matt Canavan said he wanted to see the details of Labor’s policies, but he didn’t support “extra tax increases”.
Opposition finance spokeswoman Claire Chandler also voiced her resistance to any changes that would lead to higher taxes.
“My default response as a Liberal is to say, well, we shouldn’t be supporting more taxes on something that we want to see more of, and we do want to see more housing,” she told Sky News.
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