With the federal Labor Party’s recent backflip on stage three tax cuts and negative gearing reform, The Echo asked local Labor MP Justine Elliot how such polices align with Labor values, given this supports the Nationals and Liberals’ ideology of only helping the wealthy.
According to the ABC, ‘The “stage 3” tax cuts will see everyone earning between $45,000 and $200,000 paying 30 per cent in tax from 2024’.
‘The changes scrap the 37 per cent tax bracket for those earning above $120,000, making those earners the biggest winners from the cuts’.
It will reduce government funds by $19 billion a year, say the ABC.
Ms Elliot told The Echo, ‘The next federal election is very serious. It’s not a joke or a game and there is so much at stake for our community’.
‘The only sure-fire way to make your vote count is to vote for Justine Elliot and Labor so that Labor can form government to get rid of Scott Morrison.
Greens can’t form govt
‘Don’t waste your vote on Mandy Nolan and the Greens. The fact is the Greens can’t form government and they can’t get rid of Scott Morrison.
‘In terms of tax cuts, an Albanese Labor Government will deliver the same legislated tax relief to more than nine million Australians as currently legislated.
‘Labor in government will maintain the laws on personal income taxes and the existing negative gearing and capital gains taxes.
‘Labor is providing certainty and clarity to Australian working families as we continue to support our country and citizens during these uncertain COVID-19 times. Our focus is on making sure Australia emerges from this pandemic stronger and more resilient – with an economy that works for working families not the other way around.
‘When it comes to the economy, the next election will be a referendum on Scott Morrison’s dangerous and costly vaccines and quarantine failures.
‘His failures on vaccines and quarantines have caused lockdowns 18 months into this pandemic, and those lockdowns are causing billions of dollars in damage to the economy.
‘Over eight long years in government, the Liberals and Nationals’ record is clear in the lives of everyday Australians: stagnant wages, insecure jobs, increased costs for health care and childcare, longer waits to see a GP, and a trillion dollars in debt.
‘Their own Budget forecasts a decline in real wages over the next four years and independent analysis by the McKell Institute shows that Mr Morrison’s policies have made the average worker $13,000 a year worse off.
‘Improving the Budget is all about growing the economy, cracking down on waste and rorts, creating more opportunities for more Australians across all parts of our country, and creating a society that is stronger after COVID-19 than it was before.’
It also means ensuring our broader tax system is fair and sustainable, especially when it comes to making sure that multinational corporations pay their fair share of tax and we will have more to say about that.
‘After delivering eight deficits – including the largest in Australia’s history – the Morrison’s government’s only legacy will be generational debt without a generational dividend’.
Justine concluded, ‘At the next election, make your vote count and vote Justine Elliot and Labor first to actually change the government and improve our community and our country’.
‘So many people in our region are desperately relying on the election of a Labor Government’.
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