What you will get if Peter Dutton wins the election - and how he plans to let you use the money in your super to buy a house Coalition campaigning to halve fuel excise By STEPHEN JOHNSON, ECONOMICS REPORTER FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA Published: 04:43 BST, 2 May 2025 | Updated: 04:46 BST, 2 May 2025 Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is proposing to spend $6billion temporarily halving fuel taxes when petrol prices are already plunging - as he vows to scrap Labor tax cuts and sweeteners for electric car buyers. He is also blocking Labor's permanent tax cuts of $268 a year, announced in the March Budget, and would instead provide a temporary $1,200 low and middle-income tax offset for a year at a cost of $10billion. The Coalition's temporary tax offset and fuel excise halving would together cost $16billion - as it vows to cancel $17billion worth of permanent tax cuts from Labor. Mr Dutton is also planning to save $40billion over four years by axing Labor's plans to cut student debt, connect renewable energy, build more social housing, subsidise electric car buyers and fund a major big city rail project. The Liberal and National parties are also going to the electorate with a plan to allow first-home buyers to claim mortgage interest repayments on the first $650,000 of a loan as a tax deduction, on a property that won't incur a capital gains tax later. First-home buyers would also be allowed to withdraw $50,000 from their super to fund a mortgage deposit. With Mr Dutton, a former Queensland police detective, behind in the opinion polls, here's how the Coalition is campaigning on the cost-of-living crisis, with a focus on immediate relief even as inflation falls. Fuel excise halving Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is proposing to spend $6billion halving fuel taxes when petrol prices are already plunging - as he vows to scrap a series of Labor policies (he is pictured at an East Maitland service station) The Coalition is proposing to halve petrol and diesel excise to 25.4 cents a litre for a year at a cost of $6billion, and it would kick in immediately should they win Saturday's election. A driver of a top-selling Toyota RAV4 SUV would save $14 a week filling up the tank. Motorists in Australia's big cities are now typically spending less than $1.85 a litre for unleaded petrol, following big price falls during the past year. Despite that, the Coalition is making the cost-of-living crisis the centrepiece of its campaign, even though underlying inflation is now back within the Reserve Bank's two to three per cent target for the first time since 2021. Former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison's government went to the 2022 election with a plan to halve fuel excise back when motorists were paying $2.20 a litre for petrol as the early stages of Russia's Ukraine invasion sparked crude oil sanctions. That policy, announced in the March Budget of that year, went for six months but Mr Dutton's 2025 policy will last for a year, at a cost of $6billion. Petrol had one of the biggest price drops of 7.6 per cent in the year to March, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data released during the final week of the election campaign showed. This was behind only electricity prices, which fell 9.6 per cent, with the Coalition committed to keeping Labor's $75 quarterly power rebates, which were extended until the end of 2025 in the Budget. The Coalition is pledging to cancel Labor's $16billion plan to slash student debt by 20 per cent (pictured are University of New South Wales students) Immediate tax relief The Coalition is proposing a temporary $1,200 Cost of Living Tax Offset for those earning $48,000 to $104,000, starting in July 2025, as it commits to scrapping Labor's $268 a year tax cuts due to begin in July 2026. Mr Dutton's low and middle-income tax offset would mainly benefit 10million workers earning $37,000 to $144,000, with those at the lower end getting $265 and those on six-figure salaries still enjoying more than $1,000 in relief. The offset would flow to those lodging their tax return for 2025-26, and cost $10billion. But the Coalition is opposing Labor's plan to provide $268 a year in tax relief from July 2026, by reducing the marginal tax rate from 16 per cent to 15 per cent for those earning $18,201 to $45,000. Labor's $17.1billion plan would also reduce that tax rate to 14 per cent from July 2027 - providing $536 in relief over two years. But Mr Dutton pointed out Labor's $268 a year in relief amounted to just $5 a week or 70 cents a day. Help first-home buyers The Liberal Party is proposing to allow first-home buyers to claim the $650,000 of mortgage repayments as a tax deduction for five year, provided it is a new home (pictured is a Sydney open home inspection) Mr Dutton is proposing to allow first-home buyers to claim interest repayments on the first $650,000 of a mortgage as a tax deduction for five years, provided it is a new home. The Coalition's First Home Buyer Mortgage Deductibility Scheme would only be available for owner-occupiers, who don't pay capital gains tax when they sell. Individuals earning up to $175,000 and couples earning $250,000 between them would qualify, with no cap on the price of the home or the size of the mortgage. The United States and Switzerland allow borrowers to claim mortgage repayments on tax but they levy a capital gains tax on owner-occupiers when they sell. The UK allowed borrowers to claim mortgage repayments as a tax deduction from 1983 to 2000. Unlike Labor, the Coalition is also proposing to allow first-home buyers to withdraw up to $50,000 from their super. Existing rules only allow first-home buyers to withdraw super from their voluntary contributions, not what their employer has put in as required by law. The Coalition is also vowing to axe Labor's $10billion Housing Australia Future Fund to build 40,000 social and affordable homes over five years. Axe student debt relief Labor pledged $16billion to wipe 20 per cent off student debts for three million Australians, arguing this would save them an average of $5,520. That was on top of another $3billion plan so student debt was indexed to either the consumer price index or the wage price index, whichever was lower. But the Coalition costings, released on Wednesday night, argued they could save $40billion over four years by axing a series of Labor policies, including the one on student debt relief. With Peter Dutton, a former Queensland police detective, behind in the opinion polls, here's how the Coalition is campaigning on the cost-of-living crisis, with a focus on immediate relief even as inflation falls The Coalition says it can save $20billion by axing Labor's Rewriting the Nation fund to connect solar and wind power to the electricity grid (pictured is the Liddell coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley that the Opposition would convert into a nuclear reactor) Candidate campaigning on cost-of-living crisis at a Salvos op shop owns a $500,000 Lamborghini 'It's not fair that they should get thousands of dollars from taxpayers, but the young tradies who had to borrow to pay for their ute or their tools, or the uni students who diligently paid off their student debt, get nothing,' it said. The Coalition has also vowed to axe fee-free TAFE, a Labor policy that debuted in January 2023, because only 100,000 people had completed the courses. It is instead promising to revive a network of 12 Australian Technical Colleges, that existed when John Howard was prime minister, at a cost of $260million. Axe renewable energy funding The Coalition says it can save $20billion by axing Labor's Rewriting the Nation fund to connect solar and wind power to the electricity grid as part of a government plan to reduce carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. The Opposition is also vowing to axe $14billion of production tax credits, including for green hydrogen. The Coalition says its plan to convert seven coal-fired power stations into nuclear reactions will cost $331billion, and not require expensive new wiring as part of its commitment to a net zero by 2050 target. Labor argues the Opposition's plan would cost close to $600billion, establishing government-owned nuclear reactors planned at Liddell and Mount Piper in NSW, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Loy Yang in Victoria, the Port Augusta region in South Australia and Collie in Western Australia Axe electric vehicle subsidies The Coalition says it can save $3billion over four years by scrapping a salary sacrificing program that enables a professional buying a fully-electric car to claim all the running costs and novated lease repayments as a tax deduction. The Labor policy, introduced in 2022, removed the requirement for employers to pay a fringe benefits tax if they provide an EV to a staff member under the $91,387 luxury car tax threshold for fuel efficient vehicle. Cancel funding for Melbourne rail loop The Coalition is vowed to cancel the Commonwealth's funding for the Victorian government's $200billion Suburban Rail Loop, even though it goes through the marginal Labor seat of Chisholm in Melbourne's east. Labor went to the 2022 federal election promising $2.2billion and delivered that money in its first Budget later that year. Peter DuttonQueensland Share or comment on this article: What you will get if Peter Dutton wins the election - and how he plans to let you use the money in your super to buy a house Add comment