Angus Taylor and Anthony Albanese exchange fire in Question Time on death taxes and broken promises

The Prime Minister has been challenged to rule out controversial ideas like death taxes as the Opposition intensifies its attacks on Anthony Albanese’s broken promises and accuses him of personally benefitting from Labor’s controversial Budget changes.

“Labor promised not to change housing taxes, yet it misled. Labor promised not to change investment taxes, yet it deceived. Labor promised not to change taxes on farmers and small businesses, yet it bent the truth,” Angus Taylor told Parliament.

“The Prime Minister promised his word was his bond. When did the Prime Minister decide that the truth doesn’t matter?” the Opposition Leader demanded to know of Mr Albanese on Thursday.

Hitting back at the attack, the PM mocked his opponent for removing Sussan Ley as the Liberal party’s first female and for his own tax policies at last year’s election where the Coalition suffered a massive defeat.

“He promised that if they made him leader then they would have this wave of success going forward,” Mr Albanese said to bouts of laughter from Labor MPs.

Earlier the Opposition leader and a succession of his frontbenchers peppered the Prime Minister with questions about his broken promises on taxation for negative gearing, capital gains and trusts, while urging Mr Albanese to rule out other contentious policies.

Mr Taylor opened the Oppositions’ question time assault by asking the Prime Minister to rule out changing his mind on taxing the family home.

“What I can say … is that we are the party that went to an election with lower taxes,” Mr Albanese responded.

“I was asked about tax policy. I’m also asked about what we can rule out.

“I’m ruling out all of the things this bloke, when shadow Treasurer, went to an election on,” the Prime Minister said to the Opposition leader.

“The truth is they have no credibility on tax, cost of living, on the Budget, or the economy.”

“Will the Prime Minister rule out changing his mind about the death tax?” shadow treasurer Tim Wilson asked the PM, following Mr Taylor’s questions on the owner-occupier tax offset.

“We on this side of the House have confirmed this week that we are the party of homeownership,” Mr Albanese responded.

“What we want is more Australians to have the opportunity to have their own roof over their own first home. That is what we want. But what we’ve had in here is two questions, the first about the family home, which – we want more family homes.”

“They want to lock young people out of homeownership,” he said, gesturing towards the Opposition.

Liberal MP Simon Kennedy asked the Prime Minister why his government would “deny these very same opportunities” to others to negatively gear investment properties as many of his frontbench were doing with investment properties that were “grandfathered” from tax increases.

“I wonder why, Mr Speaker, a question about properties or wealth or inheritance or trusts wasn’t asked by this bloke?” Mr Albanese asked, pointing at the Opposition Leader.

“I wonder why that’s the case, because yesterday when a similar question was asked, and I said to the Leader of the Opposition, that, you know, we have had discussions as well about people’s family and being raised in this place.”

In response to a question from Labor MP Tom French, Treasurer Jim Chalmers also attacked the Opposition Leader, declaring: “not everyone is born at the top of the income ladder” in a reference to Mr Taylor’s wealthy upbringing.

“There’s not much point of having a ladder if the first couple of rungs are missing and that’s the situation those opposite want to defend when they talk about the ladder,” Dr Chalmers added.

Earlier on Thursday Mr Albanese said his Government “changed our position” on negative gearing and capital gains tax after he was challenged on whether he had lied prior to the last election when he said he would not touch those tax settings.

The Prime Minister was asked whether his pledge to “keep your word and you wouldn’t mislead the public … was it a political line to get you elected?”

“We’ve changed our position when it comes to negative gearing,” he said.