The coalition has pledged to introduce some of the biggest cuts to migration in Australia’s history and overhaul the nation’s tax system, but is facing accusations its reforms are “un-costed nonsense”.
In his first budget reply speech, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has promised to index tax rates in line with inflation, claiming the move will deliver workers an extra $1000 a year, four years into the policy.
Under his plan, the bottom two tax brackets – covering people earning between $18,201 and $135,000 – would be indexed from 2028/29.
The top two tax brackets would also be indexed from the 2031/32 financial year.
“This is generational tax reform. It’s fair, simple and honest,” Mr Taylor told parliament on Thursday night.
The opposition leader also promised to strip welfare payments from permanent residents, including access to JobSeeker and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, claiming the move would save billions of dollars.
The reforms would be grandfathered, Mr Taylor said after his speech, so current permanent residents wouldn’t be left worse-off.
“We’re not taking anything away from anyone,” he told ABC TV.
Under a broader crackdown on migration, Australia’s intake of foreigners would be tied to the number of homes built every year.
“This much I promise: the coalition will deliver one of the biggest cuts to immigration in Australian history,” Mr Taylor said, without providing detailed figures for his migration targets.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said Mr Taylor was effectively reading off his party’s script and said he’d never seen the coalition pushed further to the right on immigration.
“I think the Australian people … feel uncomfortable about where (migration’s) off to, and they’re demanding of governments of all ilks to give them a sense of security,” Mr Joyce told the ABC.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil blasted the speech, claiming Australian families were looking for answers to the cost of living and housing supply.
“Instead of real answers to these problems, what they got was un-costed nonsense that won’t build a single home or pay a single bill,” she told reporters at parliament house.
“You can’t out One Nation, One Nation… if people like what Pauline Hanson is putting down, they’re going to vote for them, not you,” Ms O’Neil said.
Migrant advocates responded angrily to the opposition leader’s speech, accusing him of attempting to “chase votes with dog whistles, fear and division”.
“Taylor’s comments tonight are inflammatory and desperate,” Asylum Seeker Resource Centre deputy chief executive Jana Favero said in a statement.
“The fact that he feels the need to dog-whistle about mass deportations of so-called ‘overstayers’, many of whom are actually trapped in a massively blown-out court and tribunal system created through years of coalition underfunding, shows they are far more interested in stoking fear than delivering serious policy solutions.”
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
