![\"Michele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/269642e5ede2de5d181aec3f70c6cdf2.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nOpposition Leader Angus Taylor has accused the Albanese government of \u201ctrapping\u201d Australians in an economy going \u201cbackwards\u201d ahead of the May 12 budget.<\/p>\n
It comes as the Albanese government is poised to announce a major tax break for working Australians, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers considering green-lighting an \u201cearned income offset\u201d up to $300 for every taxpaying wage or salary earner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Labor is looking at raising further cash from tax breaks and incentives for property investors, including the CGT break, negative gearing policies and family trusts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Mr Taylor said the up to $300 tax offset was \u201canother thought bubble\u201d which would not save Australians from becoming \u201ctrapped\u201d in Labor\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cLabor has trapped every Australian into an economy that’s not working for them. An economy that is going backwards. An economy where you can’t get ahead,\u201d Mr Taylor told Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he would stand in the way of another tax cut, Mr Taylor insisted he needed to see more detail, but that he ultimately wanted more money back in the pockets of Australians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely want to see tax cuts for Australians \u2026 but the real trap here is Labor trapping Australians into an economy that has been a disaster for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s Australians out there hurting today, because this government promised that inflation was going to come under control, interest rates were going to come under control and it hasn’t happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed on the fact that additional tax cuts would \u201cpush inflation up\u201d, Mr Taylor said it was dependent on the overall budget position.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what we’ve heard from the Reserve Bank Governor today, is that the government spending is driving inflation and driving up interest rates, that a government-directed economy is not the answer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a private sector that can invest and make it easier to get on and do things. And we’re seeing the exact opposite from this government right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, households were dealt the third interest rate rise of the year, as the RBA lifted the cash rate by 0.25 per cent to 4.35 per cent.<\/p>\n
RBA governor Michele Bullock acknowledged that government spending had made the central bank’s inflation fight more challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a situation in Australia prior to the war, where we had demand above supply,\u201d Ms Bullock told reporters after handing down the hike.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ability of the economy to supply the goods and services that were being demanded in total, including by government and by the private sector, was that was outstripping the ability of the economy to supply it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe extent to which government make up the shortfalls for households by giving them more money, it makes it harder to dampen demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr Taylor said Australians were “giving up hope” after the RBA’s repeated tax hikes.<\/p>\n
“Australians are giving up hope and this interest rate increase is a real kick in the guts for Australians, but it’s driven by this government’s homegrown inflation that’s come from Canberra,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Taylor said in terms of what Labor would put on the table in the budget, which the Coalition has not seen, he did want to see lower taxes.<\/p>\n
As for the \u201cattacks on trusts\u201d to justify Labor\u2019s reduced taxes on wages and salaries, the Opposition Leader said the Albanese government was \u201cgoing after everything\u201d which did not constitute a tax decrease.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re going to go after homes, they’re going after investments, they are going after trusts. Who knows what else they’re going to go after?\u201d Mr Taylor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn’t sound to me like tax cuts. It sounds to me tax increases.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has accused the Albanese government of \u201ctrapping\u201d Australians in an economy going \u201cbackwards\u201d ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,1480,99,47743,164,47714,12975],"class_list":["post-650950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-budget","tag-business","tag-chalmers","tag-economy","tag-sky-news","tag-taylor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}