Australia news LIVE: Dutton won’t rule out abandoning pledge to cut taxes; WiseTech shareholders launch class action

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has dodged questions on whether he would introduce more tax cuts for high-income earners if he wins government – a contrast to his earlier pledges to restore the original stage 3 tax cut proposal among other potential tax cuts.

Speaking earlier on ABC Radio National, Dutton said the Coalition supported stage 3 tax cuts and that if he forms government, tax reform will “largely be dependent on what the numbers are coming into the next election”.

Asked if this meant that Dutton might not bring in further tax cuts for high-income earners, as he has previously suggested, Dutton blamed the government.

“The government’s on a spending spree at the moment, which is why inflation is high, and it’s why interest rates are staying higher for longer, and the Reserve Bank governor [Michele Bullock] pointed this out,” Dutton said.

“Australians are paying more for their mortgages now, more than they should. I think the priority, to be honest, is to get inflation down, to get interest rates down, and to support jobs in the economy because I think we’re coming into a difficult period.”

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Asked again if he could see the economic case for a tax cut for higher-income earners, Dutton said there were several factors to consider.

“It just depends on where the numbers are as we go into the election, and how much money is available, and how we prioritise our spending, and how we do it in a way which is targeting inflation so that interest rates can come down,” he said.

Dutton declined to say if he would see giving a tax cut to high-income earners as a bad look, saying he was focused on bringing down inflation.

“People talk about lessons out of the US and the rest of it, I think when families are struggling, when small businesses are closing their doors, they want to know that a government is there to help, not hinder them.”