Source : the age
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will promise tax offsets for work lunches in his first commitment of the election year, but he faces internal instability after a bruising preselection stoush in a key Sydney seat.
Dutton will hold a rally in Brisbane on Sunday, after a similar event in Melbourne last week, to demonstrate the Coalition’s attachment to its core small business constituency, promising tax deductions of up to $20,000 for meal and entertainment expenses for companies with turnover of less than $10 million.
Peter Dutton at the rally in Melbourne last Sunday..Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
The measure, which will run for two years, will apply to dining and entertainment for clients, vendors, and employees, Dutton will say in a speech provided to this masthead in advance.
Alcohol will be exempt and Fringe Benefits Tax will not apply.
“We want other small businesses to spend more at their local cafes, clubs and pubs. And if they can take their employees to the venues and pay for a meal as part of a milestone sales event or acknowledgement for their hard work, then it is a win-win for both businesses,” Dutton is expected to say, promising the policy will help business “recover from a horrible period under three years of Labor”.
Dutton, who was criticised for not revealing new policies in last week’s speech, will be speaking in inner-city Brisbane, where he is keen to reclaim the seats of Brisbane and Ryan from the Greens.
In Brisbane’s suburbs, the Coalition believes it can steal the seat of Blair from Labor. Further away, Labor is hopeful of winning Leichhardt, in Cairns, from the opposition.
Tony Abbott and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price publicly supported Warren
Mundine (left).Credit: The Age/Sydney Morning Herald
But the opposition leader may face an intra-party headache as conservatives lick their wounds following Indigenous advocate Nyunggai Warren Mundine’s preselection loss to tech executive Gisele Kapterian in the Sydney seat of Bradfield on Saturday.
The contest, in the seat held by retiring Liberal MP Paul Fletcher, pitted the party’s right-wing establishment against former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and previous treasurer Joe Hockey, who supported Kapterian. Former prime minister Tony Abbott was making calls to party members encouraging a vote for Mundine, according to three sources involved in the preselection, while deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley backed Kapterian.
Mundine’s opponents were worried his candidacy would result in the Liberals losing the seat because his conservative views, and advocacy against the Voice to parliament, may have jarred with voters in the only Liberal seat that voted in favour of the Voice referendum question in 2023.
Mundine said in a widely distributed statement after the vote that he wished the winner all the best. But in comments to this masthead he expressed frustration about reports of “treachery” and conservative branch members doing deals with moderates to get Kapterian elected.
“I am very disappointed and I’ll be seeking clarification,” he said, as his team worked to lobby the party leadership over the result and their discontent.
A senior right faction source said: “It’s war now. The wets, the moderates, have been screwing us around for too long and we’re now starting to get leakage from the conservatives. We’ll be trying to win over branches. People who aren’t solid will be gotten rid of, we’ll be going slowly bit by bit.”
The depth of anger among Mundine’s allies threatens to create disunity in branches that will be crucial to Kapterian’s fundraising and campaigning efforts against challenger Nicolette Boele, who has campaigned for years and will be backed by teal funding machine Climate 200.
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