Tanya Plibersek expressed personal opposition to the stage-three income tax cuts at a public event on Saturday, revealing a view at odds with government policy, a constituent has said.
Alex Richardson, a longtime Labor supporter and former party member, claimed the environment and water minister told him “if it were up to me I would get rid of [them]” at the Erskineville public school fair on Saturday.
The comments are an apparent contradiction of Labor’s decision not to repeal or restructure the controversial tax cuts, which flatten the marginal tax rate for those earning between $45,000 and $200,000.
Before the October budget the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, briefly opened the door to a debate about restructuring the tax cuts while the assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, acknowledged “differences of opinion” within the government on the question.
But the government decided not to amend its position, adopted before the May election, and has continued to back the cuts, which will cost an estimated $254bn over 10 years.
Legislated shortly after Labor’s bruising 2019 election defeat, the cuts are due to take effect from 1 July 2024, meaning the government still has time to scrap them in the 2023 or 2024 budget.
Despite growing momentum in the Labor caucus to revisit its support for the cuts in search of budget savings and to preserve the progressive tax system, Anthony Albanese has firmly insisted Australians expect the party to honour its election pledge.
As recently as 4 October Plibersek noted that Labor “did go to the last election committing to continue with those”.
Richardson told Guardian Australia he approached Plibersek shortly after she delivered a welcome speech at the school on Saturday.
Richardson said he urged Plibersek to encourage the government to do more to fight inequality, citing rising corporate profits relative to wages and the need to increase jobseeker payments.
He said Plibersek defended the government’s performance, noting Labor had been in power for just four full months after nine years of Coalition rule.
Richardson said he praised the tax policies Labor took to the 2019 election – which included reforms to negative gearing, capital gains tax and franking credits – when Plibersek was deputy leader to Bill Shorten.
Plibersek then said “if it were up to me, I would get rid of the stage-three tax cuts”, according to Richardson, and encouraged him to write to the prime minister with his concerns.
The stage-three tax cuts will abolish several tax brackets so that all people earning between $45,000 and $200,000 pay a marginal rate of 30%.
But for workers earning less than $96,000, any benefit from the stage-three tax cut is wiped out by the end of the $1,500 low- and middle-income tax offset.
The government has come under pressure to restructure the tax cuts, which the Greens note will deliver a tax cut of $9,000 for those earning $200,000 or more.
Polling research commissioned by the Australia Institute has found support for the cuts continuing to fall, with 48% now in favour of repealing them, 22% opposed to repealing them, and those who were unsure or didn’t know about the tax cuts down to 30%.
On Wednesday Albanese said there was “no change to our policy” on the cuts.
Chalmers told ABC Melbourne he understood “there are a lot of people who have got a lot of views about those tax cuts”.
On budget night, Chalmers said: “We’re not proposing to change them and we don’t have any proposals to change them.
“We haven’t changed our position.”
Plibersek’s office declined to comment when contacted by Guardian Australia.
