Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defends Labor Budget: Tax cuts for the rich just ‘how the tax system works’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has fronted up after Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered his fourth Budget of Labor’s term, addressing the Coalition’s slamming of his Government’s fiscal policy.

“They’re completely wrong. They continue to oppose everything,” Mr Albanese said on Sunrise.

“This year is a Budget that sets Australia up.

“It provides for cost-of-living relief in the form of tax cuts, building on the tax cuts that came in this year, but also energy bill relief, cheaper medicines and free TAFE going forward.

“(The Budget) also has comprehensive plans to strengthen Medicare through our tripling of the bulk-billing incentive and additional urgent care clinics. The urgent funding.

The Prime Minister said after years of growing discussion, his Government was making fundamental and required changed to school funding.

“The Gonski reforms that were talked about for so long, 15 years in the waiting. Now we’ve delivered it and the funding is there in this Budget as well as making more things here in Australia, more manufacturing, more jobs.”

The Prime Minister said “Australia is turning the corner” due to both the hard work of Australians and Albanese Government.

“We’ve got inflation going down. We’ve got real wages going up,” Mr Albanese told Sunrise.

“We have tax cuts for every Australian so that people can earn more and keep more of what they earn.

“Peter Dutton has a $600 billion nuclear plan that will be paid for by cuts to education and health.

“He supports cutting everything about your taxes,” Mr Albanese claimed.

Tax cuts for the rich? That’s ‘just the tax system’

Mr Albanese brushed off criticism over tax cuts for rich Australians, saying it’s just how the system works.

“It’s the way the tax system works,” Mr Albanese said on Sunrise.

“You can’t have tax cuts for a rate that kicks in and then somehow stops by lowering the tax rate at that first rate.

“We are deliberately and consciously giving a tax cut to every Australian taxpayer, but proportionately, of course, it makes a bigger difference for people on low and middle-income earners.

“That is precisely what we’ve done.

So, the average earners will receive, with this top-up of the tax cuts, around 2,500 extra in their pockets, at the same time as real wages are increasing.

“We’ve got inflation down to the lower half of the Reserve Bank band of 2.4 per cent. It was 6 per cent and rising when we came to office. That’s been hard work.

“That’s been the $95 billion of savings that we’ve made, the $180 billion improvement to the bottom line, the $207 billion improvement to the bottom line we’ve made going forward,

Mr Albanese said Labor was “creating the space” to get Australian kids “through our better and fairer schools plan”.

“The support for childcare, that is there with the abolition of the activity test and the three-day childcare guarantee. Free TAFE that we will continue to roll out as well.

When will Anthony Albanese call the Federal Election?

Mr Albanese says his weekend is looking “pretty good”, but would not be drawn on speculation that he may call the Federal election within days.

Sunrise Host Natalie Barr asked if the Prime Minister was planning a drive to go and see the Governor General, the first step in calling a Federal election.

“I’m not allowed to drive, Nat, under the rules, but I do get driven around,” Mr Albanese joked.

“We will wait and see.

“I make this point. This time last year, Peter Dutton was demanding an election to stop Australians getting a tax cut. A tax cut that has resulted in more dollars in people’s pockets over the last year.”