The Illusion of a Pay Rise

In this time of high inflation, every wage rise or tax cut is simply compensating for government-driven inflation rather than getting people ahead. Worse, these increases push taxpayers into higher tax brackets, leaving many workers worse off with very little of their pay rise left to keep.

To fix this, One Nation has a clear policy: we will index tax brackets to inflation. This ensures that getting a wage rise to fight inflation won’t push you into a higher tax bracket, offsetting the previous year’s inflation.

While Liberals joined Labor to defeat our amendment in 2025, pressure from One Nation has since brought the Liberals around, though Labor still refuses — showing they certainly don’t represent workers anymore.

Labor claims this will cost over $30 billion a year. Reality is that the cost depends entirely on inflation. No inflation means no cost at all. Their high estimates simply prove they expect inflation to remain out of control under their watch.

One Nation also propose allowing income splitting for families with a dependent, putting $9,000 a year back into the pockets of single-income families who choose it.

One Nation proudly stands up for Australian families and workers with common-sense tax reform.

Transcript

In this time of high inflation, every wage rise or tax cut, rather than getting people ahead, just compensates for government driving inflation. Worse, these increases move many taxpayers into higher tax brackets, increasing their tax rate and leaving many workers worse off, as many are finding when they see how little of this week’s pay rise they actually get to keep. 

One Nation policy will solve this. We’ll index tax brackets to inflation so that getting a wage rise to compensate for inflation does not put you into a higher tax bracket; inflation one year will be offset by tax brackets being lifted the next year. In 2025, the Labor government joined with the Liberals to oppose and defeat our amendment to index tax brackets. Because of the heat One Nation applied to the Liberals, the Liberals now agree with One Nation. Labor still does not, which is telling about who they represent these days—certainly not workers. This move will cost around $22 billion over the forward estimates and may come in at a much higher rate over time. Labor will engage in a scare campaign, of course, over this cost. The reality is that the costing depends on inflation; no inflation means no cost at all. Labor advances a cost above $30 billion a year. This means Labor is really saying they expect inflation under their government to remain out of control. Tax cuts take the pressure off businesses to give larger wage rises, countering the wage-price spiral that harms business, workers and every Australian. 

Another major element of our income tax policy is to allow income splitting between families with a dependent, if that suits them. Families with two wage earners will probably keep their existing arrangements. Families with one income who split will have $9,000 a year back in their pocket. The PBO has put the cost to budget revenue at $7 billion a year, depending upon uptake. Money well spent helping families. One Nation represents families and workers. These are just two of many, many tax reform policies we took to— (Time expired)