The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has insisted high income earners are not Labor’s “focus or concern”, after he defended not means testing the $300 power bill rebate by arguing cost-of-living pressures were being felt “up and down the income scale”.
On Wednesday the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, confirmed the Coalition would help pass the $3.5bn cost-of-living measure but joined a chorus of criticism that it is poorly targeted including from welfare advocates and billionaire Clive Palmer.
