ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has claimed that no greater lie has ever been told by a Prime Minister than the one supposedly told by Anthony Albanese this week.
Prime Minister Albanese walked back the Labor Party’s commitment to the Stage 3 Tax Cuts which were legislated by the previous government. The current government has outlined that times have changed and policy needs to change with it.
Instead of everyone, from top to bottom, getting a handsome tax cut this year, the Government has said people earning the highest salaries in the country would have their tax cut slash in half.
Those earning less than the national median will stand to benefit the most under Labor’s proposed plan.
“It’s outrageous,” said Mr Dutton.
“He has taken his commitment to the nation’s richest people and gone back on it. You think the teals are angry, the people of Dickson are outraged. His leadership is now worthless and I would like to ask him to resign but I know he has no shame.”
When asked by a reporter if this lie is up there with former Prime Minister John Howard saying he absolutely wouldn’t introduce a GST if he won government at the 1996 election, Dutton said he didn’t know what they were talking about.
“Sorry, I’m not aware of that.”
Another reporter said if he didn’t remember that, did the Opposition leader recall Prime Minister Howard telling Australians that refugees were throwing their children overboard so the Navy would be forced to come help them but that turned out to be another lie, Mr Dutton said again he didn’t know about that.
“It was before my time. I don’t think that’s quite right.”
Finally, a reporter from the ABC asked Mr Dutton about Howard sending us to an illegal war on the basis Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction and was keen to use them on us decadent westerners, Mr Dutton said he wasn’t sure if that was true or not.
“We went to Iraq for a number of reasons. Some better than others. If there’s no more sensible questions, I think that’ll be me.”
More to come.
