PM hails champion racehorse Winx as the epitome of his vision of a ‘fair go for those who have a go’

The government can not guarantee one of its key budget measures, doubling the low and middle income tax rebate to $1,000, will be able to be legislated before tax returns begin rolling in on 1 July.

Meanwhile, Scott Morrison has defended his right to call the election when he deems it best, dismissing criticisms from Labor over the extra week of taxpayer-funded advertising the delay allows.

At the same time, Morrison continued to sell his “fair go” Australia campaign – a vision he claims the multimillionaire owners of champion racehorse Winx personify.

“What we’re doing is talking about the budget we released last week,” Morrison told reporters on Sunday. “We do this after every budget. I don’t set my plans based on Bill Shorten’s preference and what he would prefer.

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“What I do is ensure the government’s program of explaining to the people what the budget means. Which is lower taxes. Lower taxes. Not just for individuals, and not just for all individuals but for small and family business.

“I’m also not going to take lectures from the Labor party that completely defied every single convention that has been known to Australian elections when they ran taxpayer-funded ads during the 2013 caretaker period.

“So Labor, honestly, they can lecture nobody about anything. Labor are about lies and higher taxes.”

Morrison set the tone for the government’s election campaign earlier this week, when he said Labor was full of “lies and higher taxes”, a claim he repeated on Sunday.

The attack complements Morrison’s previous campaign line “a fair go for those who have a go”, which he began pushing since taking over the prime ministership in August, and expanded to include the team behind champion mare Winx, who will race for the final time next week.

“And it’s not just Winx that has captured the hearts and the minds but the owners and the trainers as well,” he said. “Because what they say to me, and I’ve met with them and shared a few stories with them, and they, for me, epitomise that fair go for those who have a go.

“And I think that’s the story of Winx. I think it’s the story of the owners of Winx and it captured our hearts and imaginations because they’ve gone out there, they’ve had a crack and they’ve conquered the world. And good for them. And they’re the things I believe in. And so that’s why I can celebrate, along with all other Australians, of Winx’s mighty success and wish her all the best.”

Debbie Kepitis, daughter of Australian poultry baron Bob Ingham, is one of Winx’s three owners. Brisbane-based Peter Tighe, another owner, is CEO of Global Fresh Australia and a key player in Queensland’s wholesale fruit and vegetable markets.

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But while he attached one of his favourite campaign slogans to Australia’s favourite racehorse, Morrison spent most of his Sunday press conference defending the delay in calling the election.

Labor has accused Morrison of wanting to spend $600,000 a day in taxpayer-funded advertising in the next week.

“I don’t know what goes through the mind of the government most days,” Bill Shorten said. “I think they think they’re getting some marvellous tactical advantage. Everyone knows there’s got to be an election on a Saturday in May.

“… I’d put it this way – this government wants to spend tens of millions of dollars on TV advertising to pump up their own tyres. That’s why they’re buying time, so they can spend some more of Australians’ money. If they have money in Treasury, they should be spending it on services for kids with cancer.”

Morrison again accused Labor of “lies” and said any taxpayer-funded advertisements “are done according to strict guidelines and they’re run by impartial, independent government departments”.

But the delay could also impact the timing of when any future government legislates its promised tax cuts. The government doubled its low and middle income tax rebate to just over $1,000 in the last budget, promising it would be available when tax income returns were filed following the end of the financial year.

Labor had previously offered the same earners close to $1,000 in a tax rebate, but went further with cuts for earners under $40,000, with Chris Bowen calling on the government to back the opposition’s policy to ensure the ATO is prepared, come the new financial year.

But with Scott Morrison delaying calling the election, making 18 May or 25 May the most likely dates for the poll, the timetable has narrowed for any incoming government to pass the legislation necessary to ensure the cuts are in place for 1 July.

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The government minister Dan Tehan could not guarantee the promised rebate would be in place in time, if the Coalition was returned to power at the end of May.

“We will be doing everything we can to make sure that Australians get the tax cuts they deserve,” he said when asked if the rebates would be legislated in time.

“… We will be doing all we can to deliver those tax cuts and what I can say to the Australian people is, if you return us, after the next election, you know that there is one side of politics – the Morrison government – which stands for lower taxes and another side of politics – the Shorten-led opposition – which stands for higher taxes, taxes of $200bn that they want to put on you.

“… What I am saying is the Australian people can have full confidence that we will do absolutely everything we can to ensure that they get the tax cuts that they deserve.”