Latest news with #LiberalsandNationals
The Age
4 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Chalmers ‘confused' about veteran MPs' super tax escape clause: Bragg
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has accused Treasurer Jim Chalmers of not knowing how the government's new super tax will work after a senior Labor minister refused to say whether it was fair that some public officials would be able to delay paying their resultant tax bill. Bragg, in a statement on Tuesday, said Chalmers had been unclear and confused about how the tax on super balances of more than $3 million would apply to the prime minister. 'Chalmers clearly hasn't read his unrealised gains tax bill and draft regulations,' he said. 'He doesn't know how it works for the prime minister and retired politicians.' Pressure on the government's new tax on superannuation earnings has come from tax experts and investors who say the threshold should be indexed and the capturing of unrealised capital gains trashed. Chalmers himself has dismissed the calls. The new tax, set to take effect on July 1, will double the tax rate for superannuation earnings from 15 per cent to 30 per cent for the portion above $3 million in a super balance. The tax rate will also apply to unrealised capital gains on amounts above this threshold. Chalmers, at a press conference earlier this month, said he was unable to put an exact number on the amount of tax the prime minister would pay in the first year of his pension, but said there were provisions in the draft regulations for defined benefit schemes that would ensure the taxes were fair. 'When it comes to the prime minister, his pension's not yet known,' he said. 'There are calculations, [and] those calculations are very similar to the ones that the Liberals and Nationals put in when they changed superannuation in the last term of the government and will apply to the prime minister, [and] any politician who's got the equivalent of more than $3 million in super.' Appearing on Nine's Today Show on Tuesday morning, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth deflected a question on whether it was fair that some politicians elected before John Howard scrapped the scheme in 2004 could wait until retirement to pay the tax bill on their savings, while others caught by the tax – estimated to be just 1 in 200 people – would have to find the cash to pay immediately. Rishworth, elected in 2007, will not get annual salary when she leaves parliament, but argued that all politicians would still have to pay the higher tax rate on earnings if their super balances tipped over the new threshold.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Chalmers ‘confused' about veteran MPs' super tax escape clause: Bragg
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has accused Treasurer Jim Chalmers of not knowing how the government's new super tax will work after a senior Labor minister refused to say whether it was fair that some public officials would be able to delay paying their resultant tax bill. Bragg, in a statement on Tuesday, said Chalmers had been unclear and confused about how the tax on super balances of more than $3 million would apply to the prime minister. 'Chalmers clearly hasn't read his unrealised gains tax bill and draft regulations,' he said. 'He doesn't know how it works for the prime minister and retired politicians.' Pressure on the government's new tax on superannuation earnings has come from tax experts and investors who say the threshold should be indexed and the capturing of unrealised capital gains trashed. Chalmers himself has dismissed the calls. The new tax, set to take effect on July 1, will double the tax rate for superannuation earnings from 15 per cent to 30 per cent for the portion above $3 million in a super balance. The tax rate will also apply to unrealised capital gains on amounts above this threshold. Chalmers, at a press conference earlier this month, said he was unable to put an exact number on the amount of tax the prime minister would pay in the first year of his pension, but said there were provisions in the draft regulations for defined benefit schemes that would ensure the taxes were fair. 'When it comes to the prime minister, his pension's not yet known,' he said. 'There are calculations, [and] those calculations are very similar to the ones that the Liberals and Nationals put in when they changed superannuation in the last term of the government and will apply to the prime minister, [and] any politician who's got the equivalent of more than $3 million in super.' Appearing on Nine's Today Show on Tuesday morning, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth deflected a question on whether it was fair that some politicians elected before John Howard scrapped the scheme in 2004 could wait until retirement to pay the tax bill on their savings, while others caught by the tax – estimated to be just 1 in 200 people – would have to find the cash to pay immediately. Rishworth, elected in 2007, will not get annual salary when she leaves parliament, but argued that all politicians would still have to pay the higher tax rate on earnings if their super balances tipped over the new threshold.
9 News
4 days ago
- Business
- 9 News
Victorian opposition pledges to ditch stamp duty for first-home buyers
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Stamp duty will be scrapped for first-home buyers who purchase any property valued up to $1 million if the Victorian Liberals and Nationals are elected at next year's state election. Opposition Leader Brad Battin and Shadow Treasurer James Newbury announced the "bold and visionary plan" as part of its budget reply. The tax-exemption would be applied to more than 17,000 first-home purchases in its first full year, according to estimations by the Parliamentary Budget Office. Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin and Shadow Treasurer James Newbury. (Getty images) Battin said described the policy, which forms the centrepiece of the opposition's budget reply, a "common-sense reform" that would deliver "the circuit-breaker Victoria desperately needs". "Labor's war on property and addiction to tax has destroyed confidence in the economy," he said. "We need a plan to grow, not just tax and spend." Newbury added the proposal focused on "giving aspirational first home buyers the final leg up they need" "This policy is about rewarding aspiration. It's about giving young Victorians a fair go," he said. "For too many young Victorians, the first home dream has become a nightmare. "This policy is about backing in renters that have been stuck in the rental market not by their own choice, but by a tax system that is stacked against them."' On a $750,000 home, Victorians pay an average of $40,000 in up-front stamp duty. In October 2024, the Allan Government announced a 12-month stamp duty concession for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses. That tax cut is available for homes of any value and is not limited to first-home buyers. The concession is tipped to save home-buyers an average of $25,000 in its first full year, according to Allan. Victoria national Victoria Politics Tax Victorian Politics Victorian Election CONTACT US Property News: He was evicted. Then he saw his home on Airbnb.
The Age
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
How an oversharing Coalition drama could make voters polyamorous
So the Liberals and Nationals were going to break up, but now maybe they won't. Maybe their differences are irreconcilable, maybe they've got too much history, or maybe they're just too co-dependent to go it alone. So much for the rumour that the Liberal-National Coalition isn't suited to the modern era. This relationship drama is so today it deserves its own TikTok to keep us abreast of the latest while we sip our adaptogenic tea. If only they realised it. The Liberals and Nationals are carrying on like they've missed a key message of the election and are therefore at risk of missing their moment to get with the times. Granted, the message was concealed by Labor's thumping final quota of seats in the House of Representatives. But recall the campaign polls, and it's plain to see: voters are becoming more politically polyamorous. Right up to election day, a large number of voters remained soft and swinging. That's not the behaviour of an electorate looking for a long-term marriage to one political party. In fact, for a canny team, it could be the perfect moment to offer a political throuple. We're used to talking about the intersectionality of Australian identities in relation to ethnic background and sexual identification. Having multiple ethnicities is not uncommon in Australia – about a third of all marriages registered in Australia were between people born in different countries. That has increased the number of mixed-religion couples as well. And diversity extends to sexuality, nearly 10 per cent of people between the ages of 16 and 24 are LGBTI+, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics estimate – more than any generation before them. It would be short-sighted to ignore the fact that these intersections extend to politics. Just to use myself as a case study, my great-grandfather was an organiser in the Victorian Farmers' Union, which later became the Victorian National Party. My grandfather scored his first reporting job at the union's print organ, The Farmer's Advocate. My father worked for the Labor Party. My mother fled East Germany, in a pretty final statement on what she thought of the communist creed. Each of them left an imprint on my understanding of politics. And that's before we even touch on my personal political flirtations. You could say my family was 'National/ALP/Classical Liberal+'. And voting trends show that there are a lot of other pan-political people out there. That creates a solid base for a coalition which aspires to represent the individualist aspirations of urban populations, along with the more collective and community-driven values of the country. People are rarely just one thing or another. Only ideologues and the unimaginative fail to grasp the intricate dance between the two. It's common to travel through political needs and sometimes affiliations in the course of a lifetime as our experiences compound. Women tend to be more drawn to the idea of community, reflecting the demands of child-bearing and rearing. Men are often more attracted to individualism, even libertarianism. Young people traditionally start off on the left and move to the right over time (though this trajectory has stalled, as it seems to be coupled to homeownership). Reality mugs all of us eventually, in one form or another.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
How an oversharing Coalition drama could make voters polyamorous
So the Liberals and Nationals were going to break up, but now maybe they won't. Maybe their differences are irreconcilable, maybe they've got too much history, or maybe they're just too co-dependent to go it alone. So much for the rumour that the Liberal-National Coalition isn't suited to the modern era. This relationship drama is so today it deserves its own TikTok to keep us abreast of the latest while we sip our adaptogenic tea. If only they realised it. The Liberals and Nationals are carrying on like they've missed a key message of the election and are therefore at risk of missing their moment to get with the times. Granted, the message was concealed by Labor's thumping final quota of seats in the House of Representatives. But recall the campaign polls, and it's plain to see: voters are becoming more politically polyamorous. Right up to election day, a large number of voters remained soft and swinging. That's not the behaviour of an electorate looking for a long-term marriage to one political party. In fact, for a canny team, it could be the perfect moment to offer a political throuple. We're used to talking about the intersectionality of Australian identities in relation to ethnic background and sexual identification. Having multiple ethnicities is not uncommon in Australia – about a third of all marriages registered in Australia were between people born in different countries. That has increased the number of mixed-religion couples as well. And diversity extends to sexuality, nearly 10 per cent of people between the ages of 16 and 24 are LGBTI+, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics estimate – more than any generation before them. It would be short-sighted to ignore the fact that these intersections extend to politics. Just to use myself as a case study, my great-grandfather was an organiser in the Victorian Farmers' Union, which later became the Victorian National Party. My grandfather scored his first reporting job at the union's print organ, The Farmer's Advocate. My father worked for the Labor Party. My mother fled East Germany, in a pretty final statement on what she thought of the communist creed. Each of them left an imprint on my understanding of politics. And that's before we even touch on my personal political flirtations. You could say my family was 'National/ALP/Classical Liberal+'. And voting trends show that there are a lot of other pan-political people out there. That creates a solid base for a coalition which aspires to represent the individualist aspirations of urban populations, along with the more collective and community-driven values of the country. People are rarely just one thing or another. Only ideologues and the unimaginative fail to grasp the intricate dance between the two. It's common to travel through political needs and sometimes affiliations in the course of a lifetime as our experiences compound. Women tend to be more drawn to the idea of community, reflecting the demands of child-bearing and rearing. Men are often more attracted to individualism, even libertarianism. Young people traditionally start off on the left and move to the right over time (though this trajectory has stalled, as it seems to be coupled to homeownership). Reality mugs all of us eventually, in one form or another.
