ABC star struggles to believe Jim Chalmers' answer to her tough question: 'Is that plausible?'

The Albanian government has been accused of 'political calculations' as it tries to push back voters following the disastrous Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

The Voice referendum was defeated in every state and the Northern Territory last October, and in late January the government backtracked on its promise to deliver the third stage tax cuts set out by the Morrison government.

ABC's 7.30pm host Sarah Ferguson spoke to Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday evening, suggesting the backflip was about “bringing back disgruntled voters”.

'You've had a difficult year with the failure of The Voice and the crisis of people losing their livelihoods. Do you think this tax cut will give the government some momentum again?' Ferguson asked.

'We didn't think about it in those terms. We consider it a connection…' Dr. Chalmers replied before Ferguson rudely interrupted him, saying: “Is that plausible? You're still a politician…

“You can't sit here and tell me you haven't considered the political consequences.”

The treasurer appeared surprised by the ferocity of Ferguson's questioning and agreed that the government had considered the policy a broken promise.

“But I can tell you that politics is secondary,” he said.

'What matters is getting a tangible benefit, a bigger tax cut so that more people can absorb the pressure on the cost of living.'

Ferguson continued to brood over the damage the Voice failure had done to the government's position. She asked Dr Chalmers: 'How aware were you of how dissatisfied voters were at the end of last year?'

“I think every government goes through hard times and good times. “I think that's just the truth of political life,” he said.

But the ABC presenter persisted, saying: 'That was a tough period, wasn't it?'

'Some issues are more challenging for governments than others. That is not inherent to this government. This happens to governments over time,” Dr. Chalmers responded.

'The most important thing is that you make the right decisions, for the right reasons, at the right time. That's what we did. Politics also takes care of itself.'

The 7.30 presenter suggested the government would not have broken “an iron-clad, oft-repeated promise” if it did not think it would improve its position in the polls.

But the treasurer refused to admit he saw the decline in those terms, saying he “thought this would improve the prospects of people in real communities.”

Ferguson asked him whether the move, which is expected to make about 11.5 million taxpayers better off, would also improve the government's prospects.

“It became clear to us, and over the summer it became more and more clear that this was the best way,” he said.

“I think the most important thing – far more important than all the political considerations or the overnight polls or the pundits on the front pages – is our responsibility to do what we can to help people when they're struggling.”

Dr. Chalmers was also asked about the timing of the announcement, after it emerged on Monday that senior officials were working on plans to dump the Coalition's cuts, while he and Anthony Albanese said they had “no plans” to do so.

Ferguson asked whether he was directing bureaucrats to investigate how the changes would work.

“My understanding is that the Treasury has made it clear that around that time the Department had proposed looking at the tax system,” Dr. Chalmers responded.

'It became clear over the summer… that the tax system was the best solution because it did not need to put additional pressure on inflation, and had to be bigger and broader than cost-of-living relief… .'

The presenter interrupted him again and asked if he 'said that drive came from the Ministry of Finance, and not from you?

“I think, as I understand it, the officials have made that clear,” Dr. Chalmers responded, without quite answering the question.

However, that did not satisfy her and she asked: 'Here you stand before me. Was it you or them?'

“I made it clear to the Treasury Department that I wanted more options to alleviate the cost of living for more people. The Prime Minister has made that clear privately and publicly,” he said.

Still not satisfied, Ferguson tried again, asking, “Have they come up with other ideas to address the cost of living or have they just come to you with phase three tax cuts?”

“We are still considering other ways to provide cost-of-living relief in the run-up to the May Budget,” the Treasurer responded.

He said making changes in the third phase was “easily the best of the available options because it is bigger, broader and does not drive up inflation.”

“Frankly, we didn't want to wait until after the Dunkley by-election (on March 2 following the death of Labor MP Peta Murphy), we didn't want to wait until the May budget or leave it too late on the legislative calendar.

“So now that we have come up with the option that is better for the people and the economy, it was our responsibility to explain why we have come to a different position and put it forward in Parliament as soon as possible, which I did on Tuesday will do. ' he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused the Prime Minister of breaking the election promise of the third phase of tax cuts solely to secure victory in the Dunkley by-election.

Mr Dutton said Mr Albanese and Mr Chalmers deliberately took money from the pockets of the country's highest-paid workers to impress middle-class voters in Melbourne's suburbs.

“It's definitely to try and boost their numbers in Dunkley,” Mr Dutton said. 'I think the Prime Minister has panicked. That's as clear as it gets.'

But Dr. Chalmers said: 'our adversaries cannot see beyond the political struggle and the acumen it produces. It must be about tangible benefits.'

He ended by putting the onus on the Coalition and the Greens to support Labor's changes in the Senate, where the government does not have the numbers to pass legislation on its own.

“I would be disappointed but not surprised if the coalition came to the wrong decision on this,” he said.

“If the Greens tried to undo these tax changes by voting against our tax changes, they would be voting for Scott Morrison's third stage tax cuts from five years ago.”