All of a sudden, federal parliament has turned into a big betting parlour.
Anthony Albanese’s call to scrap investor tax breaks on Tuesday set off one of the riskiest contests of his prime ministership after years of being labelled timid.
Two days on, Angus Taylor has put up big and contentious ideas on tax and migration.
Albanese believes his high-taxing, equality-focused budget will inject new energy into his mid-term agenda to avoid drifting as he did in his first term. For Taylor, the tax fight has reminded a confused and downbeat Coalition of its values on lower tax and aspiration.
On tax, Taylor wants to index tax brackets. Peter Dutton shied away from the proposal last term because it was difficult to afford and may not be easily understood by voters. He’ll use the tax plan to show One Nation voters to remind them of the Coalition’s old strength on economic management.
Growth-minded economists, as well as Labor luminary Bill Kelty, support indexation. They argue it would finally take pressure off wage earners after years of flat living standards.
However, Taylor’s decision to repeal Labor’s $100 billion tax hike should he win the next election exposes him to a scare campaign about leaving a budget black hole.
Taylor said he would cut social security benefits for permanent residents who are not yet citizens. The policy was styled on those of some European nations, some run by left-wing parties, trying to clamp down on migration.
As a Labor MP pointed out during Taylor’s speech, there are already long wait lists for permanent residents to become citizens. And denying benefits may push people into poverty.
Shadow ministers were largely left in the dark about Taylor’s policies, the breadth of which reflect the urgency of his effort to revive his struggling outfit.
The uncompromising migration plan is driven in significant part by countering Pauline Hanson.
One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce said after Taylor’s speech that it was “game on”.
“[He should] acknowledge One Nation’s policies past, present and emerging,” Joyce said on ABC’s 7.30 report.
