'Where is Jim Chalmers': Coalition accuses Treasurer of going into 'hiding' as opposition to unrealised gains tax ramps up

Sky News AU

2 days ago

The federal Coalition has accused Treasurer Jim Chalmers of 'hiding' from media scrutiny amid growing opposition to Labor's plans to tax unrealised gains in superannuation accounts.
The Albanese government has proposed doubling the tax on superannuation accounts with a balance over $3 million. The tax would also apply to unrealised capital gains, which critics claim will set a dangerous precedent as it taxes perceived wealth rather than actual income.
The legislation has also raised questions about fairness, with Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth admitting on Sunday that politicians on defined benefit schemes – such as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - will be 'treated differently'.
Speaking to Sky News Australia on Monday, newly appointed shadow finance minister James Paterson questioned why the Treasurer was leaving it to other ministers to explain his policy.
'I've got to ask the question… where is Jim Chalmers? He's barely been seen or heard from since the election,' Senator Paterson said.
'He's letting other ministers like Amanda Rishworth front the Sunday shows to try to explain his complicated and confused and contradictory policy, and he's in hiding.'
Senator Paterson said different treatment for politicians grandfathered into the now-abolished defined benefits pension scheme showed how the legislation was going to be a 'mess to legislate and to implement and to administer'.
'I think he should front up today and explain the rationale for this dodgy exemption that he's given his boss and whether or not Anthony Albanese participated in the decision to grant that exemption,' he said.
The legislation for the new tax scheme was introduced in 2023 and has already passed the lower house of parliament.
The Coalition has come out strongly against certain elements in the proposal, specifically the tax on unrealised capital gains and indexation of the threshold.
However, shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien and the shadow finance minister have flagged there is scope for a deal with the Coalition.
Mr O'Brien told The Australian the opposition was willing to engage with Labor on the proposed super changes if the government ditches the two controversial elements.
Yet the tax barely featured a mention during the last election campaign – a fact many Liberals are citing as one reason for the Coalition's historic election defeat.
On Monday, Senator Paterson admitted that under the leadership of Peter Dutton, the Coalition had failed to put forward an economic platform which was consistent with Liberal values.
'We must be consistent with our values,' he said.
'I think our values are timeless and that past elections have earned the overwhelming support of the Australian people, but some of the policies that we took to the last election were inconsistent with those values.'
The Victorian Senator pointed to the decision to oppose Labor's tax cuts as one major error.
'Even though Labor's tax cut was meagre and miserly and wouldn't have made much of a difference, it doesn't matter. The Liberal Party should never oppose a tax cut,' the shadow finance minister said.
'We should never go to an election proposing to increase taxes. And we should never allow Labor to make the audacious claim that they are the party of lower taxes.
'That is core to who we are. It is core to our DNA as a Liberal Party and our National Party colleagues as well.
'And in the next election, we must take a bold, ambitious economic policy that gives people hope for the future. That gives people the hope that their lives and their personal circumstances will be better off if they vote Liberal and National.'