MALCOLM TURNBULL’S ‘TAX CUTS’ ALL BUT DISAPPEAR

 

SloMo obviously didn’t get my pre-speech memo on not telling porkies on Labor’s tax policies and not politicising the Commonwealth Treasury.

 

Let’s all take a moment to feel sorry for SloMo: he’s hopeless and has nothing better to do, halfway into the term, then giving speeches dedicated to Labor policy. It’s truly inspiring stuff!

 

It’s telling, that one week after an under-pressure Malcolm Turnbull threw out the prospect of income tax cuts, Scott Morrison’s next speech on tax fails to mention it.

 

So instead of modelling Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘income tax cuts’ or the National Energy Guarantee, Scott Morrison ties up Treasury resources to selectively cost Labor’s tax policies.

 

This is a gross and outrageous politicisation of the Treasury by Scott Morrison of the Turnbull Government.

 

It’s a sign of the times – we have a Turnbull Government that is intellectually moribund, stands for nothing, and when the going gets tough, it wilfully politicises the well-respected Treasury in the name of a cheap headline.

 

The analysis being used by the Treasurer is flawed and littered with errors.

 

Hilariously for the hapless SloMo, he’s asked the Treasury to selectively cost Labor’s tax policies based on an early 2018 election with revenue flowing in 2018-19. So much for a 2019 election!

 

It guesses at key assumptions of Labor’s policies including on company tax and trusts, and critically, it fails to include the fact that Labor does not support Scott Morrison’s income tax hike (Medicare Levy increase for those earning below $87,000).

 

This weak attack is a reminder that the Turnbull Government has no positive plan to address the big challenges the nation faces.

 

The Liberal Party stands for a tax system that perpetuates inequality – a $65 billion in big business tax cuts, increasing income taxes for low and middle-income taxes, while leaving in place opportunities for tax minimisation and income splitting and billions of dollars in tax concessions that favour higher income earners.

 

Labor believes there is a fairer way.

 

The Treasurer’s office or the Treasury were not in contact with Federal Labor to confirm policy assumptions.

 

This latest stunt and stumble is part of a solid track record of two years of failure for Scott Morrison that he can be truly proud of.

 

The smash hits include:

 

·         Arguing for an increase in the GST and swingeing tax cuts before being rolled by the PM;

·         Arguing there were “excesses” with negative gearing before being rolled by Cabinet;

·         Having the PM change the Budget date on him;

·         Wrongly claiming Labor had a $60 billion black hole during the election campaign;

·         Miscalculated the numbers in the Omnibus legislation;

·         Lamely continuing the ‘low tax’ charade while delivering over $20 billion (over four years) in new taxes;

·         Wrongly claimed the bank tax would raise $6 billion;

·         Falsely claimed the independent PBO had made certain claims about Labor’s tax policies;

·         Used Treasury “analysis” to suggest that inequality was improving but still refuses to release it;

·         Got Treasury to mail-out a political letter and taxpayer paid for 80-page glossy to Australian CEOs.