www.silverguide.site –

Angus Taylor will impose a fiscal straitjacket on a future Coalition government, promising to tackle bracket creep and invest the majority of all commodity windfalls into a new fund for future generations to pay down debt.

Taylor used his first budget reply speech as opposition leader on Thursday night to announce plans to index Australia’s tax brackets to inflation from 2028-29.

The plan is designed to combat bracket creep, which sees price inflation and wage growth push up the taxes paid by workers by moving them into higher brackets.

Indexation would start in 2028-29, with the two lower tax brackets for workers earning under $135,000, and Taylor believes the move will deliver 85% of workers savings of about $1,000 within four years.

The top two brackets would be indexed from 2031-32. Taylor had a similar policy before the last election, but was blocked by former opposition leader Peter Dutton.

Speaking before the detail of Taylor’s plan was confirmed, forensic budget watcher Chris Richardson said indexing tax brackets would cost the budget about $12bn a year, depending on the approach and timeframe used.

“This is generational tax reform,” Taylor told parliament.

“It’s fair, simple and honest. It will back Australians to work hard, take risks and invest in their future. It will force government to respect your money.

“Any government that wants to tax Australians more should have the courage to front up and to take that tax increase to an election.”

Taylor used the closely watched speech to unveil a plan to bank 80% of budget windfalls from resources prices into a new “Future Generations Fund”, used to pay down debt and invest in infrastructure. He pledged 25% of the spending would go to the regions.

But the speech included new big spending promises too, including a firm commitment to drive defence spending to at least 3% of GDP, a key demand of Australia from the Trump administration.

A Coalition government would also dramatically increase the small business instant asset write off tax break, taking the cap from $20,000 to $50,000 on a permanent basis.

The plans confirm voters will have a choice between competing strategies for tax reform at the next election – due by mid-2028 – with the Coalition pledging to repeal Labor’s changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax and trusts, announced in Tuesday’s federal budget.

Taylor had been under pressure to release fully developed policies in Thursday night’s speech, after criticism of former opposition leader Sussan Ley and amid an exodus in support from the Liberals and Nationals to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

He confirmed the Coalition would directly link Australia’s temporary immigration intake to the number of new homes built around the country, using housing completion figures as a hard ceiling for overseas arrivals.

He pledged to turbocharge “digging and drilling” for resources and cutting the National Construction Code by thousands of pages.

He also confirmed only Australian citizens would eligible for welfare payments in Australia, cutting off access to jobseeker, the age pension, disability support, parenting payments and the national disability insurance scheme.

Hanson – fresh from winning last weekend’s Farrer byelection – claimed credit for the policies even before they were announced.

“While they’ve been telling everyone that One Nation has no policies, they’ve been reading them very carefully because they’re desperate for some good ideas,” she said.

“I’m pleased they’ve seen some light at last.”

The Refugee Council lashed Taylor’s plans.

“Australia needs leaders who are aiming to bring people together not tear them apart,” a spokesperson said. “Migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum should not be used as scapegoats as Australia tries to resolve policy failures in housing, cost of living or access to services.”

Taylor said a Coalition government would develop a new national security strategy and appoint a national security adviser to government.

He conceded the Coalition had much work to do to win voters’ confidence.

“But with the policies I’ve announced tonight – and the vision I’ve outlined – I hope you can begin to believe again,” he said.