Turnbull: election likely in September or October
Malcolm Turnbull has said Australians won’t go to the polls until September or October next year.
Amid rumours a pre-budget election may be on the cards, Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney on Monday a spring election was on the cards.
“Well, we’ll be going to an election next year… I would say around September, October next year is when you should expect the next election to be,” Mr Turnbull said.
• ‘No suggestions’ of early election
• The potential hikes to our GST
• ‘Turnbull effect’ lifting business
Quizzed about changes to the GST system, Mr Turnbull said the government was “having a look at the tax system and talking to state governments”, but had not yet made any decisions.
“Any changes to the tax system have to be ones that ensure that there’s no disadvantage to the most vulnerable Australians,” Mr Turnbull told reporters today.
“It’s premature to say that the government has landed on one particular change or the other.”
Despite remaining mum thus far on the proposal, any changes to GST law would have to be approved by all states and territories.
Speaking to Channel Nine last week, opposition member Anthony Albanese claimed Mr Turnbull was planning to call a March election in order to avoid delivering another budget.
Mr Turnbull’s deputy Julie Bishop denied the claims on Monday morning, saying the Prime Minister planned to lead the government to a “full term”.