Peter Dutton quizzed on Coalition tax policy after budget handed down

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been asked about the Coalition's tax policy after Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his fourth federal budget last night.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has already labelled a newly-unveiled tax cut an election "bribe" that the Coalition would not follow.

Speaking on Today this morning, Dutton slammed the budget's tax cut as a "cruel hoax".

WINNERS AND LOSERS: Who benefited, and who missed out in this year's budget

Asked by Nine Political Editor Charles Croucher if the Coalition would follow through on its claim of being the party of "lower, simpler, fairer taxes", Dutton was tight-lipped.

"We'll have the budget in reply response on Thursday, as you point out, and we'll save our detail for then," Dutton said.

Asked directly if "the party of Robert Menzies" would be going to the election with a higher income tax ratio than Labor, Dutton again played it close to the chest.

"Our party is always about making sure that we manage the economy and that we manage national security, that we keep Australians safe," he said.

"So we have to accept, firstly, that we live in a very uncertain world."

Later in the interview, Dutton did confirm that cost of living relief, home ownership, and national security were priorities for the Coalition.

Just hours after Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised every Australian tax cuts worth roughly a cup of coffee per week to the average worker by next year, the Opposition was labelling it an "election bribe".

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor last night told 9News the opposition would refuse to support the fiscal relief.

"This is a budget for the next five weeks, not for the next five years and beyond," he said.

"And what was offered was a bribe, election bribe of 70 cents a day, starting in a year's time.

"And frankly, this is not even going to touch the sides of the economic pain that Australian households have felt over the last two and a half years."

TWO-MINUTE GUIDE: Everything you need to know with the budget back in deficit

Labor's newly announced cuts would be on top of the stage three tax cuts that rolled out in 2024 and would deliver the average earner on $79,000 an extra $268 in their pockets next year – about $5 a week – and $536 in 2027.

Chalmers rejected any claims the tax relief amounted to a "bribe" for voters on the eve of the federal election.

"We're topping up a tax cut for every single Australian taxpayer, and we're doing that twice," he said.

"Now in isolation, these tax cuts are relatively modest, we acknowledge that.

"But in combination with the tax cuts which are rolling out right now and all of the other cost of living relief in this budget, the cost of living relief is meaningful and substantial, but also responsible in the context of these pretty serious budget constraints."

When combined with the already implemented stage three tax cuts, the average Australian will be $2548 a year better off by 2027.

Hear the full discussion with Dutton in the video above