Peter Dutton’s scathing takedown of Labor Budget in fiery speech

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has let loose on the Labor budget, claiming the Albanian government is making life harder for ‘central Australia’.

The Liberal leader delivered his budget answer to the House of Representatives Thursday night, two days after Treasurer Jim Chalmers laid out the government’s economic plan for the nation.

The budget will go black again for the first time in 15 years with a short-lived but small surplus of about $4 billion this financial year, achieving what the coalition has failed to do in its nine years in power.

However, Mr Dutton argued in his speech that the Albanian government was fueling inflation with its budget.

He also said it would do little for “millions of Central Australians” who “have every right to be disappointed in this government”.

“Government policies will only keep inflation high for longer, driving real household incomes down,” he said.

The opposition leader blamed Labor for the rise in mortgage payments, gas and electricity bills, receipts from supermarkets and petrol stations and insurance premiums.

“International factors contribute to inflation – such as the war in Ukraine – but the main ingredient is domestic factors,” he told parliament.

He also took aim at Labor’s attempts to lower energy prices, saying it was “misleading with its energy policy.”

More than five million eligible households and one million small businesses will receive an exemption applied directly to their utility bills under an agreement with the states identified in the budget.

Retirees, senior cardholders or recipients of Family Tax Benefits A and B enjoy the benefits of the arrangement.

Those efforts are not enough to drive down energy prices, according to Dutton, who criticized the government’s commitment to renewable energy and its moves on coal, gas and nuclear power.

He renewed the coalition’s commitment to nuclear energy.

“Next-generation small modular nuclear technologies are safe, reliable, cost effective and can be

connected to existing grids where we’ve turned off coal and emitted no emissions,” he said.

“In the 21st century, any sensible government should consider small modular nuclear power as part of the energy mix.”

Mr Dutton said the coalition supported certain parts of the budget, including increased bulk billing incentives for some Australians, expanding parental benefits and investing in women’s safety.

The government budget increased incentives for GPs who bulk bill 11.6 million eligible Australians, including children under 16, pensioners and other concession card holders.

The government decided to lift the age limit for single parent benefits from 8 to 14, a move welcomed by interest groups.

An additional $589.3 million will be invested over four years toward the government’s goal of ending violence against women “within a generation.”

That money is in addition to the $1.7 billion in the October budget.

Also in the firing line was the government’s tax choices, which criticized the decision to scrap the low- and middle-income tax deduction saying that ‘around 10 million Australians earning less than $126,000 will now be up to $1,500 worse off ‘.

He later told ABC TV’s 7.30 that many families would be worse off as a result of the end of that measure and other pressures from high inflation.

“I’m terribly worried about a lot of families right now. I think a lot of people underestimate how much pain there is,” he said.

‘The government actually had no response at all in the budget.’

He also said the Albanian government was reluctant to commit to the already legislated Phase 3 tax cuts for anyone earning more than $45,000, which take effect in July.

“Labour has been silent on its commitment to fully comply with Stage 3 of the Coalition’s statutory tax plan,” he said.

Our tax cuts ensure that 95 percent of Australian workers save at least 70 cents of every dollar they earn.

“With around 400 days before the tax cuts take effect, there’s plenty of time for Labor to break another pledge.”

Mr Dutton called for an increase in the income-free threshold to allow individuals to work part-time without losing their benefits, without committing to the government’s decision to lift the job-seeker rate.

“We are waiting to see how the government responds to what we have put forward constructively tonight, because the proposal we put on the table tonight says that someone on unemployment benefits could earn significantly more than $40 from ten hours of work two weeks

Mr Dutton argued that employment decisions made in the budget ‘risk creating a generation of working poor Australians’.

More than 1.1 million of Australia’s most vulnerable will benefit from a $40 fortnightly increase to their welfare payments from September if parliament passes it.

The increased basic rate is applied to people who receive a Job Seeker, Youth Benefit, Parental Benefit (Partnership), ABSTUDY, Disability Support Pension (Youth) and Special Benefit.

Mr Dutton said the projected population increase from net overseas migration will increase by 1.5 million people in five years, exacerbating the housing and rent crisis.

“The government is now proposing to bring in nearly 6,000 people a week, which will only make a bad situation worse,” he said.