New blow for Peter Dutton as two-thirds of voters back Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts

Two-thirds of voters in the deprived seat of Dunkley support Labour’s changes to Stage 3 tax cuts, new polling shows.

Good news for Labor ahead of the crucial March 2 by-election in Melbourne’s suburbs. A poll commissioned by the Australia Institute found that 66 percent of voters supported the Albanian government’s changes to tax cuts.

Notably, more than a quarter of Liberal voters support restructuring the tax cuts.

The coalition has been hopeful that portraying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a man who breaks his word has been enough to push voters away from Labor in the seat that the late Peta Murphy retained in 2022 with 56.3 percent.

But an Australia Institute poll found that Labor currently leads the Liberal Party by 52 percent to 48 percent in two-party preference.

Australia Institute chief economist Greg Jericho said 25,000 more voters in the seat would now get a tax cut under Labor’s changes.

“The Australia Institute’s research shows that under Phase 3, 30 per cent of taxpayers in Dunkley who were left out of Scott Morrison’s Phase 3 plans will now receive a tax cut,” he said.

“Reforming tax cuts was the right thing to do politically, economically and socially – not just in Dunkley, but for all Australians.”

The changes ensure that every taxpayer will receive a tax cut from July 1, with low- and middle-income workers benefiting most.

Incomes between $18,200 and $45,000 are taxed at 16 percent, down from 19 percent. The 30 percent tax rate will apply to incomes between $45,000 and $135,000, and then a 37 percent rate – which was abolished in the original Phase 3 – will apply between $135,000 and $190,000. Above that, the rate of 45 percent applies.

The reintroduction of the 37 percent rate will mean an additional $28 billion in taxes will be collected over the next ten years.

The new poll comes just days after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Anthony Albanese of being motivated by a potential Dunkley loss to abandon his commitment to the Coalition-era Phase 3 tax cuts.

The new poll comes just days after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Anthony Albanese of being motivated by a potential Dunkley loss to abandon his commitment to the Coalition-era Phase 3 tax cuts.

‘I think the Prime Minister has decided he wants the political solution for Dunkley. I don’t think that’s debatable. I think it is absolutely true that they made a political decision,” Dutton said at 7:30 PM on Wednesday.

After a fortnight of lashing out at the government’s decision, the coalition on Monday reluctantly backed this week’s restructured tax cuts bill.

But Dutton promised a policy of broad tax reform at the next federal election, in line with the original Phase 3 tax cuts.

As a result, Mr Albanese spent the week accusing the coalition of lacking principles.

“If you are honest, you would vote against our measure and commit to rolling it back,” Albanese said this week.

YouGov’s latest poll showed 69 percent of Australian voters backed the Phase 3 changes. That poll showed that 55 percent of coalition voters were in favor.

The Dunkley by-election is the first test for the Albanian government this year, following the death of much-loved Labor MP Peta Murphy late last year.

The March 2 midterm elections will be a major test for the Albanian government after it came under fire for breaking an election promise on the third tax cut.

Labor’s candidate is community worker Jodie Belyea, while popular local mayor Nathan Conroy is backing the Liberals.

Labor currently has Dunkley on a margin of 6.3 percent.

* The Australia Institute has commissioned uComms to conduct a survey of 626 residents of the federal seat of Dunkley on the evenings of February 5 and 6, 2024, using self-administered automated voice and text polling methods. The margin of error is +/- 3.90 percent.