Australian PM Says No New Taxes From His Government

Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison attends the state memorial service for former Australian cricketer Shane Warne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, on March 30, 2022. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Australia’s prime minister has doubled down on the Coalition’s promise not to introduce new taxes as the opposition Labor Party pledges to throw more than A$500 million (US$362.36 million) at Veterans’ Affairs to fix a backlog in support claims.

Both sides have kicked off Sunday’s campaigning with big cash pledges as Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese remains in isolation with COVID-19.

Morrison’s pledge will see A$100 billion (US$72.47 million) added to the national debt as part of a “lower tax guarantee” with no new income, superannuation, business or housing taxes if the Liberal-National Coalition is re-elected.

“Lower taxes are at the heart of our economic plan for a stronger economy and stronger future,” the prime minister said.

The Coalition is upping the scare campaign by suggesting Labor will introduce new taxes, despite the opposition already ruling it out.

Labor has floated taking stronger action to curb multinational tax evasion and said more details on their plan would be announced soon.

Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the latest announcement from the Liberals was contrary to a commitment Australia had previously made.

“The prime minister ... appears to be walking away from a deal Australia said that we want to be part of, 130 countries around the world who recognise that we need a fairer way to tax multinationals so they’re paying their fair share in the countries where they make their profits,” he told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.

Morrison says his new tax guarantee will mean Australians will be A$100 billion better off but there are questions over whether this figure represents already legislated cuts.

Meanwhile, Albanese has dubbed a crisis in Veterans’ Affairs a “national disgrace” with the opposition saying unresolved claims for help have hit 60,000.

“For so many of our veterans, the war does not end when they leave the battlefield. Just as they stepped up for us, we must step up for them,” Albanese said.

Labor’s announcement of more than $500 million (US$362.36 million) for Veterans’ Affairs, on the eve of Anzac Day, aims to cut waiting times, build new support hubs, increase veteran home ownership and boost pension and employment programs.

On Friday, the prime minister announced a re-elected Coalition government would establish 14 new Veteran Wellbeing Centres providing access to health and wellbeing support, at a cost of A$70 million (US$50.73 million)

Morrison will head to Darwin later on Sunday for an Anzac dawn service on Monday, with Labor deputy Richard Marles to attend in Albanese’s stead.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce appears to be walking back previous comments comparing the Solomon Islands security deal with China to the Cuban missile crisis.

Joyce said he believed the assurances from the Solomon Islands’ government that a Chinese naval base would not be established in the country.

“I just hope that China does not get the capacity to set up a naval base because it’s obviously an intimidating tactic to Australia,” he told ABC’s Insiders.

Ahead of its campaign shifting to the Northern Territory, Labor has pledged to train an additional 500 Indigenous health workers and invest in life-saving dialysis and rheumatic heart disease treatments.

The party said it would work closely with Indigenous health services to deliver up to 30 new dialysis units to treat chronic kidney disease and double the federal funding to combat rheumatic heart disease with $12 million (US$8.70 million) for prevention, screening and treatment.

It would also invest $15 million (US$10.87 million) to improve water supply in remote communities to enable new dialysis units in these communities for the first time.