Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Politics
Andrew Brown

Tax cuts not enough to sway voter economic worries

Half of voters expect inflation to worsen in the future, according to the results of a fresh survey. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

While the treasurer hopes voters remember the boost to their hip pockets from tax cuts, polls show voters remain unconvinced about the economy.

As the anniversary approaches of the federal government's revamped stage three tax cuts, a Resolve poll shows half of voters expect inflation to worsen in the future.

The same survey also shows the coalition leading Labor on a two-party preferred basis, months out from a federal election due to be held by May 17.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers brushed off the survey, arguing while the tax cuts brought in during 2024 were politically contentious at the time, they had made a difference to the wallets of taxpayers.

"Some of these numbers we're seeing are a reflection of the very real and genuine cost-of-living pressures that people are under," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"We know even as we make quite remarkable progress in the economy overall - inflation down, wages up, unemployment low - that doesn't always translate into how people are feeling and faring.

"You see that reflected from time to time in the opinion polls."

Treasurer Jim Chalmers
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says progress doesn't always translate into how people are feeling. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

Labor in 2024 made changes to the former coalition's stage three tax cuts in order to distribute them more evenly across low and middle-income earners.

The stage three tax cuts saw Australians earning less than $150,000 a year receive a greater return than what they would have received, with the average household saving $2000 a year.

High-income earners still received a tax cut under the proposal, but less than what was originally intended in the coalition's original model.

Dr Chalmers said that financial support seen in the tax changes would continue.

"Now, in this financial year, every Australian taxpayer has been getting a tax cut to help with the cost of living, and as we get wages up in the coming financial year, those tax cuts will get bigger," he said.

"We have got inflation down, we have got wages up, we've kept unemployment low and the cost-of-living relief is flowing."

It comes as other opinion polls showed the government still has a hill to climb if it wants a second term in office.

The January poll for YouGov showed the coalition leading 51 to 49 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, despite voters backing Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister over Peter Dutton.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.