Jim Chalmers says there will be no tax hikes under a Labor government

Jim Chalmers says Labor has no plans to lift taxes, saying such claims by the government are just another scare campaign.

JIM CHALMERS PRESSER

A file photo of Labor's Treasury spokesperson, Jim Chalmers. Source: AAP / MICK TSIKAS

Labor's Treasury spokesperson, Jim Chalmers, has ruled out tax increases should his party win the May election other than its well-flagged plan to work with other countries targeting multinationals.

Speaking ahead of a Labor campaign rally in Brisbane on Sunday, Dr Chalmers said his party had repeatedly said it would not be taking the tax policies it took to the last election to this one.

"We have made it very clear that we don't have any proposals for tax increases beyond working with other countries to make the multinationals tax regime fairer," Dr Chalmers told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said his government had been working on the multinational agenda and creating a minimum global tax through the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Otherwise he said the coalition government was always looking to cut taxes.

"We're always looking for opportunities to cut taxes and in this budget, we've done it both for small business and for households," Mr Frydenberg told ABC's Insiders program.


, which included halving fuel excise for six months, a $420 top-up of the low and middle income tax offset and a one-off $250 payment to welfare recipients.

The coalition government repeatedly drags up the tax plan Labor took to the last election which Mr Frydenberg's office claimed amounted to $387 billion.

"This latest scare campaign from Scott Morrison speaks volumes about a government which has been in office now for almost a decade, entirely bereft of any ideas for a better future," Dr Chalmers said.

But Liberal frontbencher Anne Ruston described his comments as "weasel words and throwaway lines".

"The thing the Labor Party have got to do going through this election campaign, they have got to tell us how they are going to pay for the things that they are promising," Senator Ruston told Sky News.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese used his budget reply speech to promote his plan to reform aged care, which Labor says will cost $2.5 billion.

But Senator Ruston said $2.5 billion "won't touch the sides".

With Mr Frydenberg's fourth budget now delivered, the prime minister is expected to call an election this week.

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3 min read
Published 3 April 2022 11:59am
Updated 12 April 2022 11:00am
Source: AAP


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