Latest news with #KimLindsay
The Australian
7 days ago
- Business
- The Australian
Transport moguls threaten super sell-off over Labor's unrealised gains tax
Transport moguls Kim Lindsay and Neil Mansell have revealed they are considering liquidating part of their self-managed super funds in response to Labor's tax on unrealised capital gains, as billionaire Lindsay Fox declares that Jim Chalmers' cornerstone tax policy will backfire. Concerns have been raised that superannuants would change their investment and retirement structures before Labor introduces the tax, jeopardising Treasury's forecast that it will reap as much as $43bn over the next decade and help the Treasurer avoid deeper deficits. Labor wants to introduce an unrealised capital gains tax starting with $3m superannuation accounts without indexation. The Greens, who will be needed to approve the tax, want the threshold to be even lower at $2m. Mr Fox, a longstanding friend of Labor who had Anthony Albanese fly in his private helicopter to a five-hour barbecue with him and former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, said he thought Labor might change its mind on unrealised capital gains tax. 'I just think it is a bad policy,' Mr Fox told The Australian. 'I don't know why they would do it. It won't work. 'Everything the government does backfires. I just don't believe they will end up doing it.' The intervention from Mr Fox, who did not reveal his own superannuation circumstances and whether he would try to avoid paying the tax, comes as participants of Dr Chalmers' economic reform roundtable have criticised the tax grab on unrealised gains. One of the country's most respected business leaders and a key figure in Kevin Rudd's 2008 productivity summit, Warwick Smith, has warned Anthony Albanese to pursue any reforms agreed upon at the upcoming roundtable slowly, as the Prime Minister seeks to wrest back control of the summit from warring unions and corporate groups. The comments by the Howard-era minister and Dr Rudd's 2011 pick for the Australia-China Council come ahead of Labor seeking to legislate the unrealised gains tax once the roundtable is concluded. Asked about the concept of taxing unrealised capital gains and his reflections from Labor's last major productivity summit, Mr Smith said the government should learn from how John Howard implemented reform. Mr Lindsay – recently retired chief executive of ASX-listed trucking company Lindsay Australia – said he was considering whether to sell down assets in his superannuation fund to reduce the balance below the $3m threshold. 'Its absolute bullshit,' Mr Lindsay said. 'People may as well just go on the pension. It's a disgrace. We are considering what we will do and whether to sell part of it.' Trimming the size of the self-managed super fund below $3m is an option many are considering as they wait to see where Labor's threshold will land. 'Paul Keating introduced super and they encouraged us to get into it. But this tax will be a hell of a mess,' Mr Lindsay said. Mr Mansell, who operates a 500-truck transport business, says he was encouraged by government to use a self-managed super fund years ago and is frustrated by the about-face of introducing unrealised gains tax. He is now actively considering selling assets out of it not only to avoid being captured by the tax, but to raise money to pay it if he is liable. 'It's a terrible idea,' Mr Mansell said. Years ago we were pushed into this to save for our own retirement. I put a lot of it into industrial land but these are assets, how do you pay for the tax? So I think I might have to sell and if you sell you also have to pay capital gains. I can't believe Labor will go with it.' The tax is expected to start with 87,000 individuals, but Labor's policy is forecast to affect at least 500,000 Australians by the time they reach retirement, according to the Financial Services Council. The tax office has said it is aware that many of superannuants would seek to minimise their tax if the new laws were introduced. 'We have seen some early suggestions that private groups may seek to alter their arrangements to limit their exposure to the proposed Division 296 tax in case the legislation is passed at a later date,' an ATO spokesman said. 'Our focus is on understanding emerging issues and ensuring we are well-positioned to respond to any risks that may arise. 'We analyse this intelligence to identify potential tax risks and determine how to tailor our support and engagement activities to address these risks.' Embedded in Labor's legislation for the tax, which is yet to be reintroduced but will likely have a backdated start of July 1, are clauses that allow parameters of the tax to be adjusted. In Labor's new super plan, known as the Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and other Amendments Bill, is the clause 'section 296-60' which gives the Treasurer power to modify super tax rules further after the original bill is approved by parliament. Some tax experts have suggested that concessions have been too generous for those with high net-worth accounts and that Labor's tax plan for unrealised gains was about righting a historic wrong. Professor Miranda Stewart, who was a visiting adviser in the Treasury last year, said superannuants should, 'just relax and pay the tax'. 'It's fixing a wrong. It's fixing a policy that has caused a significant problem we need to solve,' Professor Stewart said. 'How do you deal with the lag effects of what has been done in the past, which it feels like at least the Treasurer's reforms are partly trying to get to.' PM prefers small steps, not Chalmers' giant leaps Politics Business leader Warwick Smith has warned Anthony Albanese to hasten slowly with any reforms agreed upon at the upcoming economic roundtable, amid warring unions and corporate groups. Politics Anthony Albanese has dampened expectations ahead of the economic reform roundtable, insisting his government will not outsource decision-making to business leaders and unions.
Business Mayor
20-05-2025
- Health
- Business Mayor
TikTok's protein obsession has us lacking another key nutrient
Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free A s health and wellness influencers and recipes gain traction online, one macronutrient outshines the rest: protein. Protein-rich foods are celebrated as the golden answer — the key to keeping you feel full with less calories, helping both weight loss and muscle gain. However, the protein craze could mean we're eating too much for our own good. 'There's always been trends around foods that are extreme,' physiologist George Wells, Ph.D., told The Independent . 'We had low fat, then low sugar, and now we happen to have high protein. The extremes tend to catch people's attention. But they're not good for us and they never last.' Amid the protein craze, we're pushing an important nutrient to the side: fiber. Accredited Practicing Dietitian Kim Lindsay says fiber is ignored because carbohydrates have been demonized and feared. 'When there's a trend towards a low-carb, higher protein, if we're reducing the amount of carbohydrates that we're eating, we're going to naturally reduce the amount of fiber that we're taking in, right?' Lindsay explained. 'We have to have a balanced diet where we include plant foods, protein-containing foods, and fats in our diet.' Instead, balance is being pushed aside for protein-rich eggs, meat and seafood. Snacks previously called 'junk food' are getting a wellness makeover, with added protein now found in many bars, chips and gummies. Even the Kardashians are on board, with Khloe Kardashian recently launching her protein popcorn, 'Kloud,' which offers seven grams of protein per one cup of popcorn. Read More How to protect yourself from tick-borne TBEV virus The International Food Information Council's annual survey found that 71 percent of consumers were trying to increase their protein intake this year, a 6 percent rise from 2023. The survey also found that exposure to food and nutrition content online, much of which is protein focused, is up by 54 percent. To be clear, protein is an essential macronutrient to help bodily functions, like fighting infection, providing energy, and building and maintaining muscle mass. Intake depends on body weight, with general guidance being that a just over a third of the calories we consume each day should come from protein. So, with the average American woman weighing around 171 pounds, she should consume about 62 grams of protein a day. The average American man, at around 200 pounds, should eat about 72 grams of protein daily. (Getty/iStock) However, Wells believes that due to social media, we're only focused on having as much protein as possible. 'I think the craze around protein right now probably is linked to bodybuilding and the obsession with body composition — looking like you have the six-pack abs,' he said. But that ignores the flip side. 'If you have too much protein, it's really hard for the body to deal with all of the amino acids that are floating around,' Wells added. That's where fiber comes in handy. Typically found in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, fiber is particularly beneficial to your digestive system and keeping you regular. While men should have about 38 grams a day and women should have 25 grams, as noted by dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick, you shouldn't just jump into doing that if you've been eating way less. 'Fiber intake should be tailored to the individual and the microbiome. However, if you are well under this amount, you should go slow to allow the body adequate time to adjust,' Kirkpatrick, the owner of KAK nutrition consulting, explained. She added that fiber can also prevent certain cancers and type 2 diabetes and improve heart health. (Getty/iStock) Observational studies have found a fiber deficiency among Americans. According to a study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, only five percent of the population has the recommended amount of fiber a day. Inadequate intake can result in health issues like chronic constipation and gastrointestinal problems. Similar to avoiding high-processed foods just because they've got extra protein added to them, we should focus on eating real foods that are naturally high in fiber rather than ultra-processed foods with bits of fiber in them. 'We gravitate towards highly processed foods because they're engineered to taste fantastic,' Wells said. 'They're high in sugar and salts, and we crave them as a result. There's no real incentive for the processed foods to be satiating. They're great for business, but they're really not very good for our health.'
