An income of $190,000 is “not a lot in this day and age” the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has claimed while criticising Labor’s tax changes which are set to benefit working-class and regional areas.
Labor’s chances of passing the tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners unamended were boosted by an endorsement from senator Jacqui Lambie, but the government is still piling the pressure on the opposition to support its plan.
Labor’s new tax cuts would give back $359bn over 10 years to Australians, delivering gains to all taxpayers earning less than $146,486, doubling tax relief for those on the average income including gains of $804 for middle-income earners.
On Monday Guardian Australia published an analysis by the Australian National University associate professor Ben Phillips finding that working-class communities in Coalition-held remote and regional electorates stand to gain the most, including Leichhardt, Forde and Herbert in Queensland.
The average taxpayer in Whitsunday, in the electorate of Dawson, East Pilbara in Durack, and Cairns in Leichhardt stands to gain over $600 more from Labor’s package than the Morrison government’s stage-three tax cuts. In Littleproud’s seat the average taxpayer in the Darling Downs (west) and Maranoa area will receive $595.
Asked on Monday about that local impact, Littleproud told Sky News that “those people in my electorate, many of which who are on much of the lower end of the scale in wages, did already get a tax cut”.
Littleproud cited the Coalition’s earlier two stages of tax cuts, explaining the third stage was about the “aspiration” of families including “tradies, who have kids at school and mums at home looking after some of the kids”.
“They’re getting caught up in this and it’s all relative,” he said. “Their mortgages are still up there.”
“Their cost of living’s still there and they’re only on $180,000, $190,000. And that’s still not a lot in this day and age.”
Australia’s average income is about $73,000. A person earning $190,000 is in roughly the top 4% of income earners.
Littleproud said the stage-three cuts were about “giving everyone a fair go and making sure that we had a better tax system that didn’t have this inflationary creep in tax” – a reference to removing the 37% tax rate to prevent middle-income earners moving into a higher bracket.
Littleproud accused Labor of “pitting one Australian against the other” and “class warfare” instead of tackling underlying cost pressures.
Littleproud said if Labor’s package passes parliament the Coalition would “use that as a starting point to take to the Australian people, about the reforms that we’ll build on that try and make sure that it’s a fair tax system for everybody”.
The comments were a further backdown from earlier suggestions from deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley that the Coalition could propose repealing Labor’s plan.
In Moree-Narrabri in the Nationals’ seat of Parkes, the average taxpayer can expect to get $607 more under Labor’s plan than stage three.
The Nationals MP for Parkes, Mark Coulton, said he “still has concerns” about the fact retaining the 37% tax rate means a lot more taxpayers will be “caught up eventually” in paying higher taxes.
“It’s no secret Parkes has low-income earners,” he told Guardian Australia. “But it also has aspirational working people as well.”
Labor’s tax proposal halves the benefit to people earning more than $190,000, slashing $4,500 from the dividend they would have received under stage-three cuts.
While the Coalition focuses on Labor’s broken promise on stage three and has not said how it will vote on the bill, the Greens have called to raise the $18,200 tax-free threshold to benefit more low-income voters.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said it is the government’s “intention” to pass the tax plan as announced without amendments.
“This is the best available set of changes for people doing it tough,” he told reporters in Canberra. “Everyone gets a tax cut. The overwhelming majority get a bigger tax cut to help with the cost of living.”
“It returns bracket creep, it’s good for women and young people and truckies and teachers and nurses and police officers, and we urge the parliament to support it.”
Chalmers accused the Coalition of “fumbling and bumbling around for excuses to oppose bigger tax cuts for middle Australia”.
On Monday Lambie came to the government’s defence, suggesting that members of the crowd of the Australian Open tennis men’s singles may have booed Albanese over the proposed tax changes.
“Where are our values? Honestly, what are they booing him for,” Lambie told Channel Nine’s Today program.
“Because well, we’ve got a heap of rich people over there watching the tennis finals and they’ve had a bit of their tax taken off them to pay it forward, to give to those who are less fortunate.
“For God’s sake, I don’t have a problem with that.”
