The Albanese Labor government is planning to spend $40 million (US$26 million) of public funds on an advertising campaign to sell tax cuts.
The new tax cut plan passed the lower house of Parliament on Feb. 15, with support of the Coalition despite concerns of a broken promise.
In Senate estimates, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher confirmed government has made a decision on the multi-million advertising campaign but said it wasn’t finalised.
“But that hasn’t been finalised. You know, so, because we haven’t got a campaign in place and it hasn’t been approved and so, we’ve made a provision.
In response, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said this was “another example of a government that thinks it can spin and spend its way out of a cost of living crisis.”
“After spending $450 million on a failed referendum and adding $209 billion of extra spending, this government is spending $40 million on an advertising campaign for their lie to the Australian people.”
Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume said, “The Albanese Government has questions to answer, including whether this campaign will run during the Dunkley by-election.”
The new 2024 tax plan cuts involve lowering the 19 percent tax rate to 16 percent for income between $18,200 and $45,000.
Tax Cuts Legislation Passes Lower House
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024 (pdf) passed the lower house of Parliament on Feb. 15, with support of the Coalition and cross bench.The Coalition attempted to rename the bill to include the phrases “broken promise” and “entrenching bracket creep.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the passage of the bill as a “great day” providing tax cuts for millions of Australians.
“This is indeed a great day, it is a great day on so many levels, this is a day in which every Australian will get a tax cut, all 13.6 million of them,” he told Parliament.
“We want people to earn more and we want workers, every taxpayer, to keep more of what they earn.”
But Liberal National parliamentarian Bert van Manen raised concerns that the bill will not be able to deal with the cost of living crisis in Australia.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the tax cuts passed today were a combination of relief and reform and responsibility.
“More relief for middle Australia, better reform for our economy, and consistent with the responsible approach that we have taken to managing the budget and also managing the economy more broadly.
“It became increasingly clear to us over the course of summer that the tax system and particularly the stage three tax cuts were the most effective way to provide more cost of living relief to more people without adding to inflation.
“We reject the approach taken by the opposition who say that the only way to prosper as a country is for the Australian people to work longer and for less pay,” he said.
Speaking on 2GB radio on Feb. 15, Mr. Taylor said the Opposition did not have a problem with lower taxes, but with the way it was being funded.
“It’s being funded by Australians—it'll be four million over the coming years who’ve got to pay for Albo’s broken promise. And he knows people hate broken promises. So he’s going to spend $40 million trying to explain it to people,” Mr. Taylor said.
“Well, this is now becoming a long list of initiatives they’ve taken that are wasting taxpayers’ money, hard earned money.
“I know how hard small businesses and employees out there working to earn their income and pay their taxes. We’ve seen $450 million on a failed referendum. We’ve seen $209 billion of extra spending. That’s $20,000 for every household since Labor came to power.”
