Angus Taylor might have reckoned he and the opposition are in such deep doo-doo that he might as well throw everything at Thursday night's budget reply.

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The result was a mixed bag. The promise to index tax brackets is a bold reform that can't be faulted in principle, although it would come with a big eventual cost and put a financial constraint on a future Coalition government that it might come to regret.

The pledge to restrict access to 17 welfare benefits and payments (and the National Disability Insurance Scheme) to Australian citizens falls into a very different category. It is a clear pitch to those voters on the right who have drifted from the Liberals to One Nation.

"We will remove Labor's handouts for non-citizens," Taylor said. "Many Australians would be surprised to learn that non-citizens are eligible for welfare."

The hit on welfare smacks of a policy not being thought through - more about sending a message than directing welfare spending appropriately while still compassionately.

By including permanent residents in those who would be denied the access, Taylor has used a broad brush for maximum political impact. But this will also open him to maximum criticism, regardless of the grandfathering arrangements he says would accompany the tough approach.

Taylor has outlined more of his immigration policy, saying a cap would be imposed on net overseas migration set by the number of houses built. But he said nominating the actual level of immigration under the Coalition would have to wait until closer to the election. For those hardliners who will still bray for a number, Taylor said: "The Coalition will deliver one of the biggest cuts to immigration in Australian history".

The tax indexation proposal is something Taylor has favoured for a long time. He pushed the policy with his senior colleagues before the election. Former leader Peter Dutton flew a kite in the campaign but did not carry it through.

After the election Taylor also urged his successor, then shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien, to look at it.

Indexation has only been tried once by a federal government - that of Malcolm Fraser in the 1970s. It was wound back and later........

© Canberra Times