Jim Chalmers urged by Treasury to increases tax, urged Australia won't make 1.2 million homes target
First reported by the ABC, the details were mistakenly revealed in an unredacted Freedom of Information request submitted by the broadcaster and shared in an incoming government brief issued by Treasury after Labor won the May 3 election.
Although Treasury requested the documents be deleted and unpublished after noting the error, the ABC said the details were 'in the public interest'.
While the Treasurer said he was 'pretty relaxed' about the newly revealed details. He said that they had been 'sent in error,' adding that the advice could not have been 'adequately captured' in the mistakenly published subheadings.
Responding to specific taxes, Mr Chalmers ruled out changes to GST reform, and an immediate implementation of a road user charge for electric vehicles.
However he said the inevitable take up of EVs would 'have implications for the tax base' in the medium and long term.
Mr Chalmers added further tax reform would be debated at the upcoming Productivity Roundtable in August, which will focus on ways to 'simplify the tax system'.
'When we speak with tax experts and people that have a view about tax reform, they're interested in efficiency and equity and simplicity, and other design principles like that,' he said.
'The views we have expressed publicly is (that) if there are ways we can simplify and consolidate regulations in our economy, then that would be a good thing for productivity as well, so long as we don't trade away reasonable standards and protections for people.'
While the unredacted files didn't identify specific taxes, Mr Chalmers was told he would need to identify 'additional revenue and spending reductions' in order to put the budget in a 'sustainable' position, the ABC reported.
The papers said 'tax should be raised as part of broader tax reform,' and suggested 'indirect taxes' and superannuation taxes as potential avenues.
This comes as Labor intends to double the taxes on superannuation accounts above $3m, from 15 to 30 per cent, with Mr Chalmers stating the move would only affect 0.5 per cent of people.
However the Opposition has opposed the tax as the $3m threshold will not be indexed, with the tax also affecting unrealised gains, penalising people who hold property and other assets in their super portfolio.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil was also advised to 'adjust' Labor's 1.2 million homes target, which it currently must meet by June 30, 2029.
Ms O'Neil was urged to look at how migration and skills training could boost the construction workforce, and reassess how to best use state and territory grants as 'leverage' for improved home building rates.
However Mr Chalmers said he believed Australia would still meet the target, and backed the 'ambitious' goal.
'It's not the worst thing from time to time for it to be understood in the broader community, that this will be a difficult target to meet, but if we all do our bit, we all play our part, as the Commonwealth has been willing to play, then we can build the homes that people desperately need.,' he said.
'It's one of the defining challenges in our economy, and we're ambitious when it comes to trying to solve it.'
Speaking on ABC RN on Monday, Environment Minister Murray Watt said it was 'not unusual' for a minister to receive advice from government departments.
He also said Labor remained committed to the Housing Accord targets.
'I, of course, haven't seen them (the Treasury advice documents) myself, but you will have seen that we've taken a lot of steps already to ensure that we can meet that housing goal,' he said.
'We recognise that it's ambitious, but it's certainly our intention to meet it.'
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