<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Future </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/tax" rel="" target="" title="tax cuts"><span>tax cuts</span></a><span> will be put on the table by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as she attempts to guide the Coalition back to </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/government" rel="" target="" title="government"><span>government</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a speech to conservative think tank the Centre for Independent Studies this afternoon, the Liberal leader pledged to offer up income tax cuts before the next federal election and reduce budget deficits as the opposition's main priorities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We'll start where the pressure is greatest – low and middle-income earners who are feeling the squeeze from higher prices and rising living costs," Ley said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/finance/australia-super-fund-finance-money/34c1ef43-c445-4af3-abd7-b925b78b2eca"><strong><span>Millions of Aussies make financial admission that could cost them big in retirement</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is not a passing policy preference.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's more than just a commitment to lower taxes, I have never been more convinced, more determined and more passionate about anything I have ever done in public life than I am today in making this pledge to the Australian people."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That's a departure from the policy the Coalition took to the last election, when it promised to repeal Labor's "top up" tax cuts under previous leader Peter Dutton.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/sussan-ley-call-tax-cuts-speech-centre-independent-studies/035bd519-2ddc-46f8-ad4c-42a7d875d144" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, Ley's pledge was met with scepticism by Treasurer Jim Chalmers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They're promising more spending and smaller deficits, Australians deserve to know how they're going to do it. This can only mean savage cuts to Medicare and other essential services to pay for their promises," he claimed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/barnaby-joyce-mulls-leaving-national-party/1af83b29-fc0e-44b3-aace-73fb547a74b0"><strong><span>Barnaby Joyce keeping Nationals in the dark about potential One Nation defection</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ley didn't outline a specific tax cut, instead saying the Coalition would work on its policy platform and unveil it before the next election.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Whilst early work on our tax cuts plan has already begun, we will determine the scale and scope of our eventual package as the final budget position becomes clearer over the next two and a half years," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, she added the Coalition would focus on reducing regulation and making government smaller in order to be able to afford any tax cuts while improving the budget position.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The government should "do fewer things and do them better", she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/health/australia-flu-vaccination-health/767ffef9-0b03-44e7-9d31-68d29b6c2b62"><strong><span>Doctors sound the alarm as flu rates spike, vaccination rates drop</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ley also promised to wind back regulation and flagged a potential fight with Labor over industrial relations laws introduced over the past three-and-a-half years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, she sought to allay any fears that could include stopping people working from home, after a plan to force public servants back to the office backfired badly on Dutton and the Coalition at the last election.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We believe in enterprise-level bargaining – where businesses and their staff can strike agreements that reward higher performance and suit their circumstances – rather than industry-wide decrees," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I want to give Australian workers this assurance: flexibility does not mean stripping away worker protections."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/anthony-albanese-visits-us-for-talks-with-donald-trump/f4f27628-f747-454c-8beb-17eef03c9a75"><strong><span>Tariffs, trade and AUKUS to headline Albanese and Trump meeting in US</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The address was the latest in a series of speeches by Ley as she seeks to haul the Coalition back from its disastrous performance in the May election, but comes amid the backdrop of more internal party turmoil.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce is believed to be weighing up a switch to One Nation after announcing he will quit the Nationals – and a number of other Coalition MPs are reportedly being eyed off by the minor party.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That, in turn, came after prominent shadow ministers Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Price quit Ley's front bench; Hastie stepping down due to disagreements over immigration policy, and Price dumped amid the fallout from her damaging comments about Indian migrants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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