Labor has picked this fight of trust and tax cuts

This is a political fight Labor has willingly walked into as cost-of-living bites.

"I'm the Prime Minister. I am in a position to do something about it. We are doing something about it," Anthony Albanese said amid a grilling at the National Press Club on Thursday.

The policy, based on the broken election promise to meddle with the legislated Morrison-era stage three tax cuts and "unashamedly" put money in the pockets of every single taxpayer in a revenue-neutral package, is sound. But the politics could be lethal.

"Treachery!" And "How do you trust the bloke?" according to the opposition.

"The Prime Minister has knowingly and willingly lied to the Australian people. I do not think people will forget easily or forgive," Peter Dutton said while insisting there was panic in the government and Mr Albanese was a "political charlatan".

"I think he should call an election and put the changed position to the Australian people and let them be a judge of his character," he said, turning it up to 11.

What the Coalition does not want to talk about is being snookered into sorting out whether it is going to fight the new generosity to 84 per cent of taxpayers or not.

Sussan Ley has gone from "this is absolutely our position" to "well, it doesn't surprise me that Labor is lying about what I said".

Mr Dutton was no clearer, saying "we are the party of lower taxes" and "we'll make our policies known in due course".

Labor had a choice to leave one this alone. It could have ignored the imploring to overhaul or axe the incoming tax cuts which favour the high end of town.

Perhaps the government could have used the first surplus in 15 years, and the expected next one, to deliver some other relief.

No, Labor's game and the image of the Prime Minister has changed and now it is being sold.

"I want Australians to know that we did not choose this course lightly," he told a room of his cabinet colleagues, Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy, ASIO head Mike Burgess, US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, UK High Commissioner Vicki Treadell, Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiro Suzuki and the federal press gallery.

The grilling, after headlines in Newscorp tabloid papers such as "He's Now A Liar-bility", had the PM asked if he was expecting to lose his job like the other long list of PMs who broke election promises, how could Australians trust that he won't lie to them again and why he didn't level with voters at the 2022 election.

Mr Albanese was ready.

Again and again he said it was the "right call" and "not the easy call" and "we're being very up front to the Australian people that when economic circumstances have changed".

But can we trust him again? They can, the Prime Minister said: "Trust me to make the right call."

It all comes back to how it is worded. All government types have been saying ad nauseam "our position has not changed".

Now it is, "we changed our position on Tuesday" after seeking advice "around Christmas". Don't expect the Prime Minister to willingly assist Liberal attack ads.

It could be the Greens the government has to worry about. The Greens want this proposed overhaul to go further and Labor will need to negotiate with the party and the progressive crossbench to get it through Parliament before July 1.

"I am sure that there will be some who will say it does too much or doesn't do enough. We think this is the right thing to do," Mr Albanese said to open the negotiations.

Labor has not argued this broken promise, cost-of-living fix until now. Now all MPs will have to sell it like the Albanese government depended on it.