Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed he is an "honest person" as he continues to defend breaking an election commitment on the contentious stage 3 tax cuts.
Key points:
- Anthony Albanese wants his revised tax cut plan passed by Easter
- He insists he broke his election promise in response to global changes
- The Coalition and Greens are yet to decide their positions on the tax proposal
Labor has spent the past week buoyed by the initial response to its plan, which seeks to offer greater tax relief to low- and middle-income earners at the expense of halving the tax cut for high earners from July.
Overall, all Australians will be taxed less from July 1.
Despite that, Mr Albanese has continued to face questions about his promises, having infamously declared about his support for the Coalition's tax cuts that "my word is my bond".
"I'm an honest person. I am up-front," he told Insiders.
"What I have done here is be very, very clear. And I've listened to people who are all saying, who are all saying to me, ‘Well, what are you doing about cost of living? What are the measures that you can put in place?’"
Mr Albanese said the government would release the legislation on Sunday, before Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced it into the parliament on Tuesday.
He said he wanted the legislation passed before Easter to ensure employers and the Australian Tax Office could implement the new tax rates from July.
Mr Albanese has repeatedly said the Reserve Bank's 13 interest rate rises, the war in Ukraine going longer than expected, and conflict in the Middle East have prompted the government to change its tax plan.
But he told Insiders that the government was not considering other tax changes, such as to negative gearing.
Under current rules, owners of investment properties can deduct losses on that property from tax paid on other income.
Labor has long faced calls to ditch it but the prime minister said the government was focused on other ways to improve housing supply and affordability.
Greens, Coalition yet to decide
Greens leader Adam Bandt told Sky News on Sunday that his party room was yet to determine its policy.
But he said the Greens would seek to pressure the government to change the plan to further reduce the benefits for high earners, seeking the benefit from that to expand Medicare to include dental, to fund rent freezes and wipe student loan debt.
The government won't need the Greens' votes in the Senate if the Coalition supports the revised tax plan.
The shadow cabinet will meet on Monday and a joint-party room meeting will happen on Tuesday, ahead of the legislation being introduced to parliament.
The revised cuts will also return about $28 billion in tax to the federal government over the next decade, which the Coalition argues will be a worse deal for workers in the long term as rising wages push more people into higher tax brackets.
Polling suggests support for tax changes
Internal Labor polling, obtained by the ABC's Insiders program, showed two-thirds of voters supported the changes to the stage 3 tax cuts – despite the prime minister breaking an election promise.
The polling shows 66 per cent of respondents approve of Labor’s changes, 13 per cent disapprove of the changes, while 21 per cent neither approve nor disapprove.
Support was strongest among young voters. But the poll also found an approval rate above 60 per cent among people older than 65 years.
The poll showed 83 per cent of Labor voters approve the plan, as do 53 per cent of Coalition voters and 67 per cent of Greens voters.