The Australian Financial Review has long made clear its disdain for all things Green, yet this morning’s front page includes recycled arguments on the government’s tax cuts that were first aired in The Australian two weeks ago.

Here is what the AFR reported today:

“The Coalition’s planned corporate tax cut would deliver consumers one of the largest pay-offs imaginable from a government decision, according to research commissioned by Treasury.

“For every $1 lost in tax revenue from cutting the 30per cent corporate rate, about $2.39 would be returned through’consumer welfare’, argues economist Chris Murphy.”

And what appeared in The Australian on page 1 on June 8?

“Australia stands to gain a ‘consumer benefit’ worth more than twice the value of the federal government’s $48.2 billion company tax cut under a new analysis that counters Labor’s growing criticism of the potential boost.

The Treasurer will assure Australians that the long-term economic gains will be as much as $2.39 for every $1 in the tax burden eased on business, as he also goes on the attack over Bill Shorten’s ‘hypocrisy’ in rejecting tax cuts he endorsed only five years ago.

“The new research by Independent Economics director Chris Murphy counters criticism of the government plan from the Grattan Institute, the Australia Institute, Labor and the Greens over the scale of the benefits, igniting a new dispute over a policy at the heart of Malcolm Turnbull’s election campaign.

Well fancy that, the same argument recycled in the AFR, 15 days later. I know arguments in favour of the corporate tax cut are scarce, but this is absurd for a paper claiming to be the country’s premier business newspaper. Surely they could have found someone else, or commissioned their own modelling, but recycling? And the AFR had the hide to claim its story this morning as an “Exclusive”.