The Coalition has promised to temporarily slash the price of petrol with the battle lines now drawn ahead of the federal election.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will use his budget-in-reply speech on Thursday night to pledge to cut the fuel excise by 25 cents a litre for 12 months.
The move is expected to save a household that uses two tanks a week around $1500 a year.
If elected, the plan would come into effect from July 1.
That contrasts with Labor’s tax cuts which will save workers an initial $268 a year from 2026-27, and $536 a year the following year.
The tax cuts passed the Senate on Wednesday night even without the support of the Coalition.
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor is defending the Coalition’s petrol plan, arguing it will help those who need it the most.
“This is temporary, it’s very targeted, it’s responsible and it’s focused on that group that we think are under the most pressure at this point in time given Labor’s cost-of-living crisis,” Mr Taylor told the ABC.
“Our intention is to fix the crisis. This is temporary relief for some of the most stressed Australians when it comes to their financial situation.”
The Coalition plan is expected to cost the budget around $6 billion.
But Labor claims Peter Dutton can’t be trusted to help relieve family budgets.
“He’s opposed every single piece of cost-of-living relief we’ve tried to deliver to households,” Health Minister Mark Butler told Nine.
“Cheaper medicines. He voted against that. Cheaper childcare. He voted against that. Free TAFE for young Australians, again last night they voted against that as well.”
