Coalition pledges to repeal changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing
The Coalition said last night it would repeal changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing if elected as it tried to hit back at Labor’s budget measures.
The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, told Sky News the prime minister promised not to touch the incentives during last year’s election campaign and that therefore Labor did not have a mandate for the reforms.
Wilson said:
We’ll repeal these measures if necessary, but our objective is to defeat them and to make sure that they’re never legislated. Because this government doesn’t have licence from the Australian community [to] support these changes.
Wilson also says the $250 tax offset for workers will be eaten up within six months due to inflation. That offset will be given to workers after next year – so it’s still a while away.
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The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, told Sky News the prime minister promised not to touch the incentives during last year’s election campaign and that therefore Labor did not have a mandate for the reforms.
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Wilson said:
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We’ll repeal these measures if necessary, but our objective is to defeat them and to make sure that they’re never legislated. Because this government doesn’t have licence from the Australian community [to] support these changes.
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Wilson also says the $250 tax offset for workers will be eaten up within six months due to inflation. That offset will be given to workers after next year – so it’s still a while away.
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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
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There’s already plenty of reaction today after Jim Chalmers delivered his fifth budget as treasurer last night. Interest groups are lining up to give their verdict on their particular slice of the financial pie, welcoming some parts and criticising the lack of action on others.
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And the shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, has plainly put out the Coalition’s position on the biggest changes: to capital gains tax and negative gearing, which the government claims will help to redress intergenerational equity. He says they will try to block the changes, or repeal them when next in power.
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Much more to come …
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Key events
The Australian Medical Association has praised the budget for locking in “much-needed” additional funding for public hospitals but said there was “little else” in the budget to address the critical issues facing Australia’s health system.
The AMA president Dr Danielle McMullen said the additional $25bn for the next national health reform agreement was very welcome but it left a funding gap, and other opportunities to tackle healthcare system problems had been missed.
She said:
Our modelling shows a remaining gap of at least $9.6bn — a gap that must be bridged if the cycle of crisis our public hospitals are in is to be broken.
We are also pleased to see $120.9m set aside to support the role of general practice in the early identification of children with development delay or neurodevelopmental difference through a Medicare funded three-year-old health assessment and expanded Comprehensive Health Assessment Program. It will be critical for all governments to ensure that appropriate support for eligible children is available on GP referral.
But McMullen said the budget provides little else to celebrate.
While we welcome a commitment to undertake consultation on private health reform, cuts to the private healthinsurance rebate for people who are 65 years and over are likely to see older Australians on modest incomes drop or downgrade their cover and this may put more pressure on the public hospital system.
Government deserves credit for spending political capital on reform says CEDA
Last night’s budget contained a warning that Australia could be thrown into recession if the Middle East crisis continues and the price of oil doesn’t fall back to pre-war levels.
Against this difficult background, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) says the budget makes good progres towards reform by delivering modest savings, and support for households and businesses partially offsetting higher revenue from commodity prices, inflation and a still strong labour market.
It also applauded measures to address housing supply, productivity growth, tax reform, cost of living and intergenerational fairness as “welcome steps towards a stronger, more resilient economy and social compact, but will require more targeted and stronger attention into the future”.
CEDA’s chief executive Melinda Cilento said.
This was a genuinely difficult budget to calibrate, and it contains many moving parts.
While higher commodity prices have boosted national income, the cost of living is biting, inflation remains too high and the global outlook remains highly uncertain. A government willing to spend political capital on productivity, housing, tax reform and intergenerational fairness deserves credit.
The Climate Council came out of the blocks quickly to decry a “massive free kick” in the budget for fossil fuel multinationals while consumers are “left exposed” to global energy price spikes and climate harm.
The council said last night that by maintaining more than $19bn in annual fossil fuel subsidies and foregone gas tax revenue, the budget ignored “major opportunities to expand clean energy solutions that shield Australians from global fossil fuel chaos”.
YouGov polling showed most Australians want the government to invest in expanding renewable energy solutions over fossil fuels to secure our energy future, the council claimed.
Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said:
This budget maintains the $19bn gravy train for big fossil fuel corporations. That is $19bn in the wrong direction, keeping us tied to foreign oil, rather than supporting the expansion of renewable energy solutions that Australians want to deliver a safer, cleaner, more secure energy future.
Coalition pledges to repeal changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing
The Coalition said last night it would repeal changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing if elected as it tried to hit back at Labor’s budget measures.
The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, told Sky News the prime minister promised not to touch the incentives during last year’s election campaign and that therefore Labor did not have a mandate for the reforms.
Wilson said:
We’ll repeal these measures if necessary, but our objective is to defeat them and to make sure that they’re never legislated. Because this government doesn’t have licence from the Australian community [to] support these changes.
Wilson also says the $250 tax offset for workers will be eaten up within six months due to inflation. That offset will be given to workers after next year – so it’s still a while away.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
There’s already plenty of reaction today after Jim Chalmers delivered his fifth budget as treasurer last night. Interest groups are lining up to give their verdict on their particular slice of the financial pie, welcoming some parts and criticising the lack of action on others.
And the shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, has plainly put out the Coalition’s position on the biggest changes: to capital gains tax and negative gearing, which the government claims will help to redress intergenerational equity. He says they will try to block the changes, or repeal them when next in power.
Much more to come …
