Chalmers says government has lost some political goodwill after backtracking on CGT promises
The treasurer said he does think the Labor party has lost some “political paint” after the changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing, “but it’s worth it because we’re doing the right thing here”.
He told RN:
If we’re given the choice between taking the easier path politically or doing the more difficult thing, but the right thing in the interests of particularly first home buyers, young people, workers in the tax system, then it will be worth it.
Obviously, there’s a big partisan political campaign against these changes. We understand that. We anticipated that. We expected that. But it’s worth it because our job isn’t just to take the easy political options.
He said the party didn’t announce the changes before the last election because Labor’s view was focused on supply.
The more important thing than the politics of this is to get the policy right, to get the substance right. Because at the end of the day, what matters most is the tax system and the housing market are broken. We are acting to fix it.
Key events
Shadow minister says debate on multiculturalism divisive and diversity something ‘we can be proud of’
Andrew Bragg, the shadow minister for housing, spoke to RN Breakfast earlier about Pauline Hanson’s speech before the National Press Club.
He said he didn’t agree with the One Nation leader’s stance that multiculturalism wasn’t good for Australia. Here’s what he had to say:
We’ve always been a multicultural society in some form, and that’s been part of Australia for this last 250 years. And I think it’s something that we can be proud of.
But I think the point that’s been made is that there has been a loss of shared common purpose, perhaps. There has been a disappointment in the direction of the nation, and I think that’s being channelled.
I think this is a reasonable debate to have, but I don’t think it’s going to work if we’re going to be dividing Australians against one another.
Australia’s road deaths rose once again in the 12 months to 31 May
New data shows 1,332 fatalities nationally, a 0.8% increase on the previous 12-month period. It’s the 36th consecutive month that the 12-month road deaths total increased, according to the Australian Automobile Association (AAA).
NSW had the most deaths at 365, an 8.6% increase; Victoria had 267; Queensland, 330; and Western Australia had 192. South Australia (99), Tasmania (33), the Northern Territory (31) and the ACT (15) rounded out the list.
The NT, however, had the nation’s highest fatality rate of 11.7 deaths per 100,000 residents. WA came in second, at 6.2 deaths per 100,000 people.
The national road deaths rate was 4.8 deaths per 100,000.
Michael Bradley, the managing director of the AAA, said in a statement:
States and territories have different approaches to managing speed, drink driving, and emerging mobility devices. Our rising road toll demands that we use evidence to identify any policy success stories that exist and help proliferate them, while identifying the failures that must be fixed
Two small earthquakes in NSW this morning
There were two small earthquakes in New South Wales this morning, according to Geoscience Australia.
A 3.4 magnitude quake hit near Orange around 5.45am this morning, with at least 108 people reporting they felt the shakes. And a 3.2 magnitude temblor hit near Wilcannia two hours earlier. Just two people reported feeling that quake.
A bigger quake near Orange back in April shut down mining operations at a goldmine, which prompted more than 150 workers to evacuate. That quake was a 4.5 magnitude event, which was felt hundreds of kilometres away.
The previous event saw miners flee into underground refuges:
Chalmers says government has lost some political goodwill after backtracking on CGT promises
The treasurer said he does think the Labor party has lost some “political paint” after the changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing, “but it’s worth it because we’re doing the right thing here”.
He told RN:
If we’re given the choice between taking the easier path politically or doing the more difficult thing, but the right thing in the interests of particularly first home buyers, young people, workers in the tax system, then it will be worth it.
Obviously, there’s a big partisan political campaign against these changes. We understand that. We anticipated that. We expected that. But it’s worth it because our job isn’t just to take the easy political options.
He said the party didn’t announce the changes before the last election because Labor’s view was focused on supply.
The more important thing than the politics of this is to get the policy right, to get the substance right. Because at the end of the day, what matters most is the tax system and the housing market are broken. We are acting to fix it.
Chalmers says carve-outs to CGT plans came after getting ‘consultation right’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the carve-outs announced yesterday to the capital gains tax discount, which will aid some 2.7m small businesses, came after “getting the consultation right” following the release of the federal budget.
Chalmers spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the changes were “all about providing more certainty for investors, more support for small business and also more incentive for innovation”. He went on:
We flagged on budget night that we would do a consultation on startups and in other areas to make sure that we got the final implementation details right. And so those announcements yesterday about those new next steps, about those implementation details, are the product of the consultation that we flagged some weeks ago.
The treasurer maintained the changes were “all about making it easier for people to buy a first home”, cutting income taxes and “better aligning the tax treatment of labour and asset income”.
National Gallery showcases hidden gem tapestries
Tom McIlroy
A rarely seen series of tapestries by the Australian artist Arthur Boyd will go on show at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra tomorrow, 50 years after they were acquired for the public.
The series created in collaboration with textiles specialists in Portugal, known as the Life of St Francis tapestries, comprises a cycle of 20 textiles produced between 1970 and 1974.
Woven at a scale more than 20 times larger than Boyd’s original source drawings, each tapestry contains between 4 and 8.5 million stitches. They were acquired for the national collection by the visionary founding director of the gallery, James Mollison.
The exhibition presents the monumental works alongside Boyd’s lithographs, pastels and drawings exploring the creative and technical processes involved in their translation across media.
Senior curator, Elspeth Pitt, said.
Arthur Boyd is a celebrated figure in Australian art, and his paintings are often hung in the country’s major public art museums. His tapestries, however, have received relatively little attention.
Angus Taylor says he won’t join Pauline Hanson in judging people based on skin colour or race
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, said he would not join One Nation’s Pauline Hanson in judging people “based on the colour of their skin or their race”.
“I judge people on their character and their conduct … if she wants to judge people based on the colour of their skin or their race, One Nation needs to explain that,” Taylor told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
Migration in this country has been too high and the standards have been too low, and that must change.
But what we favour is a values-based immigration policy where people who come to this country adopt our core values, and that is regardless of race or religion or where they come from.
In her address on Wednesday, Hanson rejected accusations One Nation is a racist party and claimed it was common sense to oppose what she described as the “failed policy of multiculturalism”.
Asked if Australia was still at risk of being swamped by Muslim migration, as she claimed in 2016, Hanson said: “Not if I have anything to do with it.”
She accused the media of double standards and petty attacks, of missing the party’s re-emergence and its role in speaking for disgruntled voters.
“Australians aren’t buying this crap from the political establishment and its media supporters any more,” she said.
“I understand people are angry. I really get this,” Taylor said on Thursday.
But what we need in a response to that is a credible plan, and we didn’t get that yesterday.”
– AAP
Good morning, and happy Friday – Nick Visser here to round out the week with you. Let’s get to it.
Jim Chalmers defends tax reform changes
Kelly Burke
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has defended the federal government’s adjustments to its controversial capital gains tax (CGT) changes, rejecting claims that Labor was forced into a humiliating backdown by furious business groups.
Appearing on ABC’s 7.30, Chalmers faced intense questioning from Sarah Ferguson after announcing the turnover threshold for small business exemptions would lift from $2m to $10m. The $475m tweak effectively carves out 98% of active Australian businesses from the new tax dragnet.
Ferguson suggested the carve-out exposed a hurried policy and a government whose commitments were built on “shifting sands”. Chalmers said the concessions were the result of “meaningful consultation” rather than a capitulation to industry backlash.
“We have chosen the harder road of reform rather than the political path of least resistance,” he said, arguing the broader policy was vital to help young first home buyers.
Chalmers also ruled out resurrecting a previously floated gas export tax, insisting the government was “entirely focused” on legislating its current, highly contested tax agenda over the next fortnight.
When pressed on whether Australia’s Asian trade partners could trust his word that a gas export tax was permanently off the table given recent pivots over other policies, Chalmers said:
I understand that people will level that charge against us, but then it’s more important to us that we get the substance right rather than the politics right.
AFL great Tony Modra in serious condition after truck accident
AFL great Tony Modra has been seriously injured in a truck accident on his South Australian property, Australian Associated Press reports.
Modra, renowned as one of the AFL’s most brilliant players in a career spanning 1992 to 2001 at Adelaide and Fremantle, was in hospital in a serious condition with undisclosed injuries on Thursday night.
Modra was driving a truck on his property at Back Valley, about 90km south of Adelaide, when the vehicle struck a tree about 5.15pm ACST (5.45pm AEST) on Thursday.
“Police and emergency services responded to reports that a truck had crashed into a tree at Range Road, Back Valley,” South Australian police said.
“The driver and sole occupant of the truck, a 57-year-old man from Waitpinga, was taken to hospital for treatment for serious injuries.”
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir, who played alongside Modra at the Dockers from 1999 to 2001, was shocked by the news.
“He’s obviously a big part of the Freo family and all I can say is I wish him and his family well,” he said.
“Hopefully he can pull through. I’m thinking of him. We’re all thinking of him and his family.”
Modra has lived on a beef and cattle farm at Waitpinga since 2003. A dual All Australian and five-time Crows leading goalkicker, Modra, who was born in McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide, kicked 588 goals in 165 AFL games.
Australia announces $100m in new support for Ukraine
Tom McIlroy
The federal government has announced another $100m in support for Ukraine as it continues its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Australia’s ambassador to Nato, Angus Campbell, represented Australia at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels overnight, announcing plans to bring Australia’s overall support for Ukraine to over $1.8bn.
The new contribution will come in the form of two $50m payments to the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, of which Australia is a major backer.
It will help secure the military equipment and capabilities the country needs to defend itself, including air defence capabilities and munitions, the government said.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, said:
What happens in Ukraine matters here in the Indo-Pacific, which is why it is so important for Australia to stay the course and continue to stand with Ukraine until they find peace on their terms.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.
Jim Chalmers has defended the government’s changes to its controversial capital gains tax reforms and rejected claims it amounted to a backflip forced by business interests. More follows soon.
The federal government announced last night that it will give another $100m in support for Ukraine as it continues its fight against Russia’s invasion. More coming up.
And AFL great Tony Modra is in hospital after a serious truck crash near Adelaide. More on that soon too.
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