Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the federal government is not planning on amending or scrapping scheduled tax cuts.
But the opposition is calling on the prime minister to expressly rule out any future changes.
Mr Albanese told reporters on Sunday: “Our position hasn’t changed – I’ve said that repeatedly”.
“These (tax cuts) are due to come in in 2024, we are producing a budget in October 2022.”
He added that the government would continue to work alongside the Reserve Bank’s policy to curb inflation rather than in contradiction to it.
He said the government would produce a sensible budget that wouldn’t add to inflationary pressure, as central banks around the world hike interest rates at unprecedented speed.
“At that time fiscal policy should work in concert with (monetary policy) not against it,” Mr Albanese said.
“That’s the context in which we are framing a budget.”
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor welcomed assurances from federal government ministers that the tax cuts would remain but wants Labor to be more explicit.
“We need to see Anthony Albanese ruling out dropping the tax cuts,” he told Sky News.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the prime minister had left the door open to considering changes in the future.
“It seems he is still contemplating it between now and the next election,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program.
Government ministers have consistently run the line that there have been no changes to the policy, but haven’t ruled out having discussions about changing the cuts.
“That would be an unforgivable and a ridiculous mistake,” Mr Dutton said.
© AAP 2022
