If you’re struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, you might not have realised the federal rabbit nibbling away at your pay-packet.

Under the Albanese Labor Government, income tax has surged. Australian taxpayers are paying a whopping 26.8 per cent more income tax since the Coalition left office in 2022, $336 billion more Commonwealth revenue taken out of taxpayers’ pockets.  The figure was $7 billion higher in 2023/4, with a modest 2.3 per cent reduction this financial year after Labor’s broken promise, altering the schedule of Coalition-era tax cuts.

It’s little wonder the Albanese Government wants to keep their income tax bonanza quiet, considering they’ve made over $35 billion in spending promises during this unofficial election campaign already, and have hired 36,000 more public servants in just 3 years. That’s a public servant every 3 minutes of every working day since May 2022.  The average public servant’s annual salary is over $85,000 and at least 30 earn over $1 million. The estimated cost of Labor’s hiring bonanza is an eye-watering $24 billion.

If the Coalition wins this election, Budget repair will be a difficult and ongoing project due to Labor’s reckless spending and policy agenda.  We will immediately arrest the cost-of-living crisis by halting reckless spending, so government expenditure doesn’t keep driving Labor’s uniquely home-grown cost-of-living crisis.

Not only has income tax gone up 26.8 per cent, mortgage repayments are up 41 per cent, gas prices are up 35 per cent, insurance 33 per cent, the cost of bread 18 per cent and rent 15 per cent – to name just a few.

Energy prices are up 50 per cent and will keep rising under Labor due to their calamitous and reckless renewables-only railroad. Labor have chased coal and gas investment out of our energy system.  Now, coal-fired power at Yallourn will need to keep running longer because energy reliability will be non-existent without it.  The Coalition’s responsible energy plan will use more gas in the short-term and install new generation zero-emissions nuclear energy in the long-term at existing coal-fired power station sites.

Only a Dutton-Littleproud Coalition government will get Australia Back on Track.