Angus Taylor has used his first budget reply speech as Opposition Leader to outline a sweeping economic agenda centred on tax reform, migration cuts, housing supply and business investment.
Mr Taylor pledged to address bracket creep by indexing income tax thresholds to inflation, beginning with the two lowest tax brackets from 2028/29 if the Coalition wins the next federal election. He said the move would eventually deliver tax relief of more than $1,000 annually for many Australians.
“That will fully protect 85 per cent of income earners, with relief of around $250 in year one, growing to more than $1,000 a year in year four,” he said.
He described the proposal as “generational tax reform”, adding: “It’s fair, simple, and honest.”
Under the plan, the higher income tax thresholds would also be indexed from 2031/32, with Mr Taylor arguing the changes would prevent inflation from pushing Australians into higher tax brackets over time.
The Coalition leader also recommitted to lifting defence spending to three per cent of GDP, creating a Future Generations Fund to reduce debt and invest in infrastructure, and cutting back the National Construction Code to speed up housing development.
In a bid to support businesses, Mr Taylor announced that companies with turnovers below $10 million would be able to immediately deduct assets worth up to $50,000. He said the measure would “lift confidence in our country and encourage business investment”.
Housing affordability and migration were also central to the speech. Mr Taylor pledged $5 billion for infrastructure projects aimed at unlocking 400,000 new homes and said immigration levels would be “significantly below our cap in the first few years” of a Coalition government.
“The Coalition will deliver one of the biggest cuts to immigration in Australian history,” he said.
The Coalition also proposed restricting access to services such as the NDIS and paid parental leave for permanent residents and some long-term visa holders, arguing the measures would prioritise Australians amid the housing crisis.
The proposals drew immediate criticism from political opponents. Pauline Hanson claimed the Coalition was adopting policies long championed by One Nation.
“For years I’ve been demanding that immigration be slashed,” Senator Hanson said, accusing Mr Taylor of borrowing her party’s platform.
Meanwhile, Jim Chalmers defended Labor’s own tax measures, arguing the government’s recently announced tax offset scheme created the “infrastructure” to address bracket creep in future.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino criticised the Coalition’s migration policies as “really divisive and poor politics”.
Source: The Advertiser
