Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out negotiations with the Greens on Labor’s revisions to stage three tax cuts, declaring the changes “stand on their merits”.
Party leader Adam Bandt recently confirmed he would be open to supporting the package alongside an increase to the JobSeeker payment, which is currently sitting at $749.20 per fortnight for singles with no children.
He also revealed to The Australian the party was considering sending the tax legislation to a parliamentary committee which could significantly drag out the debate.
“At this stage there’s a number of things the Greens have campaigned for a while – including a lift to JobSeeker, getting dental into Medicare – and we’re looking at all of those now in the context of Labor’s stage 3.1,” Mr Bandt said.
Mr Albanese was asked directly on Thursday where he would consider bargaining with the Greens in exchange for the party's support of the new restructure.
“We're not going to trade, if you'd like, across a whole range of issues,” he told ABC RN host Patricia Karvelas.
“This is something that we consider in every budget, I've said that.
“We had a significant increase in the last Budget on JobSeeker of Youth Allowance, of Parenting Payment.”
The Prime Minister insisted the tax cut changes stand “on their merits”.
Labor ministers and backbenchers last week agreed during a caucus meeting to keep the 37 per cent tax bracket for those earning between $135,000 and $190,000 which was set to be abolished.
They also decided to raise the tax-free threshold and reduce the lowest tax bracket rate from 19 per cent to 16 per cent, meaning Australians earning less than $45,000 will receive a larger cut.
“And at the end of the day, the minor parties as well as the Coalition are going to have to decide, is our package better than the package which was previously there,” Mr Albanese said.
“And the truth is that there has been no criticism of any substance of our package by either the Coalition, who've engaged in personal abuse, or the crossbenchers.”
Mr Albanese was further pressed on the issue during a press conference held on the Central Coast later the same day.
In response to questions about the Greens' demands, the Labor leader repeated his earlier statements.
“We will put this plan forward on its merits,” he said.
“People in the House of Representatives and the Senate can determine their view as to whether they want to provide increased support to low- and middle-income earners or not.
“We will always look at budget measures, but what we will not be doing is trading across different issues.”
The new legislation is set to be introduced to parliament next week and the government remains hopeful it can secure enough support to pass.
The Coalition is yet to formally declare its stance regarding the scheme.
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2024-02-01 06:00:09Z
CBMi1QFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9wb2xpdGljcy9ub3QtZ29pbmctdG8tdHJhZGUtYW50aG9ueS1hbGJhbmVzZS1jb25maXJtcy1sYWJvci1ub3Qtb3Blbi10by1uZWdvdGlhdGlvbnMtd2l0aC1ncmVlbnMtb24tc3RhZ2UtdGhyZWUtdGF4LWN1dC1jaGFuZ2VzL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvNGY4YjRlMzY3ZDk4ZGJiMzk4ZDcxZGZhZjgyZjVlMGbSAQA
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