Will Labor’s broken promises be real tax reform, or just tinkering?

by · Australian Financial Review

Ronald MizenPolitical correspondent
May 10, 2026 – 4.00pm

On the eve of the 2013 federal election, then-opposition leader Tony Abbott made five clear promises: “No cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS.” In a federal budget just months later, he broke nearly every one.

The Coalition’s political calculus was hopeful: voters would forgive broken promises if they believed it was the best thing for the country. Yet by 2016, Abbott was no longer prime minister and his treasurer, Joe Hockey, was no longer in the parliament. The duo got the calculus disastrously wrong.

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Ronald MizenPolitical correspondentRonald Mizen is the Financial Review’s political correspondent, reporting from the press gallery at Parliament House, Canberra. Connect with Ronald on Twitter. Email Ronald at ronald.mizen@afr.com

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