With Coalition leader Peter Dutton set to deliver his Budget reply tonight, his promise to cut the fuel excise levy to make filling up our cars cheaper shows he’s not prepared to die wondering as the inevitable election looms. And it raises this question: what other rabbits will the aspiring PM pull out of his hat?

We should expect ‘magic’ from Mr Dutton following the hocus pocus Budget conjured up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday. Yep, ahead of an election, as if by magic, our politicians seemingly know what we want. And it’s as if by magic they seem to say they’ll find the money to bankroll it, even after they’ve resisted giving it to us for three years since they were elected.

This promising ‘spendfest’ is the greatest argument for changing our voting system from a three-year term to a four-year term, but good ideas seldom get a run in Australia, let alone Canberra!

So, let’s look at Peter Dutton’s plan for the fuel excise slug:

1. The fuel excise will be cut by 25 cents.
2. The rate goes from 50 cents a litre to 25 cents.

3, It would kick in as soon as the Coalition assumes power, if it wins the election.

4. For someone with a typical 55-litre car, that’s a saving of $14 a week or $700 a year.
5. History shows if the excise slug paid by producers and importers is cut, the price of petrol falls in line with the cut.

These offerings come as the Coalition rejected the Government’s tax cuts and resulted in the Opposition leader coming out with the following: “If elected, we will deliver this cost of living relief immediately — whereas people have to wait 15 months for Labor's 70-cents-a-day tax tweak”.

While this tax was initially created to fund the improvement in roads, in recent years it has been used to bankroll other promises and projects of successive governments. However, given the importance of getting the cost of living and therefore inflation down, this move by the Coalition has many appealing aspects to it.

That said, what Dutton needs to do to ensure he doesn’t worry the Reserve Bank Governor, Michele Bullock, is to show how he can pay for his petrol price promise and not blow out the deficit.

The Government’s escalation of the deficit from $27.6 billion this financial year to $42.1 billion in 2025-26 could mean the RBA gives us fewer rate cuts. The Coalition needs to show they’ll be better for interest rate cuts via this petrol price fall and a smaller increase of the deficit or even a lower deficit altogether.

That’s easier said than done because that will undoubtedly lead to Labor claiming the Coalition will cut Medicare support to pay for their deficit-reducing plans.

The old ‘Mediscare’ election trick has already been given a run and I bet we’ll hear a lot more about it between now and the election.