Opposition leader Angus Taylor has announced plans to index Australia’s tax brackets to inflation from 2028-29, a measure expected to cost £22.5bn and designed to combat bracket creep. The policy, unveiled in his budget reply speech, would initially apply to the two lower brackets for workers earning under £135,000, with the top two brackets indexed from 2031-32. Taylor claimed the move would save 85% of workers around £1,000 within four years.
The Coalition also pledged to bank 80% of budget windfalls from resource prices into a new Future Generations Fund to pay down debt and invest in infrastructure, with 25% of spending directed to regional areas. Defence spending would rise to at least 3% of GDP, and the small business instant asset write-off cap would be permanently increased from £20,000 to £50,000.
Taylor confirmed plans to link temporary immigration intake to housing construction figures, using completion numbers as a hard ceiling. Welfare payments, including JobSeeker and the age pension, would be restricted to Australian citizens only. The Coalition also committed to repealing Labor’s changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax, and trusts.
Economist Chris Richardson estimated that indexing tax brackets would cost the budget about £12bn per year. Taylor defended the policy, stating it would force governments to respect taxpayers’ money and require any tax increase to be taken to an election.
