“When we talk about getting multinationals to pay tax in Australia, Labor is like the scarecrow with no brains and the Liberals are like the tin man with no heart,” she said. Senator Hanson challenged Labor to give up pay rises for federal MPs and vote for tax cuts for middle Australia. “I do not understand why the government’s plan for personal income tax cuts is so complex,” Senator Hanson said. “The government’s failure to split the bill into three stages creates a dilemma for me because stage three starts in six years’ time and no-one can predict whether we will be able to afford tax cuts legislated now. “My dilemma is that I know Australians are doing it tough. Wage growth is very low, certain cost of living items are rising much faster than wages, people are struggling to pay electricity bills.

“They manage by going without adequate heating or cooling when needed. Electricity bills are the number one cost of living concern for Australians and that’s a tragedy for a country rich in gas and coal.” Senator Hanson wrongly told the Senate that the Labor tax offset, worth up to $928 a year, would end in four years. Labor said on Tuesday that it would make the offset permanent – a key factor in its claim that it would offer a better tax cut for workers on low and middle incomes. Loading In the latest development in the upper house, Labor gained a majority to amend the government bill shortly before 1pm on Wednesday, cancelling the third stage of the $144 billion reform.

The government has made it clear it will reject this change in the House of Representatives, sending the bill back to the Senate for a final vote as early as Thursday on whether it passes in full or not at all. Senator Hanson criticised Labor for opposing the second stage of the tax plan, which includes an increase in the $37,000 tax threshold to $41,000 and an increase in the $90,000 tax threshold to $120,000. “These are your voters,” she told Labor. “Yet you are denying those people you are supposed to support – the battlers.” Senator Hanson cited the wages of “tradies” and others who earn salaries of more than $90,000 and will miss out under Labor, saying they deserved a tax cut when politicians were getting an increase in their salaries at the expense of taxpayers. The One Nation leader also spoke in support of the third stage of the tax reform, which sets a single rate of 32.5 per cent on all earnings between $41,000 and $200,000.

Senator Hanson linked that tax change to the pay increase awarded to federal MPs, acknowledging her salary of more than $200,000 a year made her a lucky Australian. “How can Labor and the Greens deny these tax cuts to hundreds of thousands of hard-working Australians on taxable incomes from $120,000 up to $200,000 when they have accepted pay rises in excess of 6 per cent in recent times?” she said. The Remuneration Tribunal, an independent agency, last week recommended pay rises for politicians and others. “I challenge Labor to set an example and reject the 2 per cent pay rise awarded by the Remuneration Tribunal last week,” she told the Senate. Senator Hanson also attacked the Greens for opposing tax relief for workers while promising a huge increase in the foreign aid budget, estimated to cost $12.8 billion.