1. Do the NT Greens welcome the tax cuts?
It is clear that original Stage 3 Tax Cuts were a remnant of a tired Morrison Coalition Government that served only to line the pockets of the top end of town. The NT Greens welcome an ongoing debate about the Stage 3 Tax Cuts.
The proposed changes are a modest improvement on a terrible policy. In this cost of living crisis we need bold leadership. Instead of tax cuts for billionaires, we need more public money for our desperately underfunded public services.
The Greens position has always been to scrap the stage 3 tax cuts and put that money into services that lower the cost of living: building more public homes, getting dental into Medicare, freezing rents and mortgages, wiping student debt, fully funding the NDIS and making childcare free.
2. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has claimed Territorians are the "big beneficiaries" of the tax cuts - is this correct?
A significant proportion of Territorians work in the public sector in one way or another. These tax cuts are an improvement on the previous policy, and Territorians will benefit but why are we left to fight over the scraps when we're still giving huge tax breaks to billionaires?
Instead of funding these services properly to prevent burnout and chronic understaffing, we still have a government that is prepared to give tax cuts to those earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
3. Regarding Federal policy, what does the NT Greens believe would best benefit Territorians?
In the NT, we have some of the most underfunded and most poorly resourced public services. Our domestic violence and housing sectors are crying out for needs-based funding.
Instead of delivering the public services that Territorians need, the federal government continues to opt for tax cuts for the top end of town.
As this legislation works its way through Parliament, the Greens will fight for more for the low and middle income earners who are struggling under Labor's cost of living crisis. If we scrapped these tax cuts for billionaires we could get dental into Medicare, make childcare free and fully fund the services that bring down the cost of living for all of us.
4. Is there anything else you would like to add?
We know the cost of living crisis is hitting everyone hard - except the big businesses, politicians & CEOs will continue to benefit from these backwards tax cuts.
NT Greens are committed to fighting the cost of living crisis. We want big business, including gas & gambling companies, to pay their fair share of tax and to stop receiving handouts from the government, money that could otherwise be spent on getting dental into medicare, making childcare free & building more public homes.
