Labor’s budget promised reform, but delivered only half measures |
Labor’s budget promised reform, but delivered only half measures
May 13, 2026 — 9:48am
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Last night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the first budget of this Labor government’s second term.
In his speech, the treasurer referred to “future generations” no less than eight times, a clear nod to his government’s ambition to address intergenerational inequality. And while they have no doubt addressed it, I’d say the reforms are more of a tiptoe than a slam dunk.
In this masthead last week, I called on the government to reduce intergenerational inequality through ambitious tax reform, housing supply expansion, and fairer university fees.
On these three topics, I grade the government a B, an A-, and an F, respectively. Out of the seven policies I called for, two were met, three were somewhat addressed, and two were missed entirely.
On tax (B grade), the government courageously moved to restrict negative gearing, scrap the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, and tighten family trust loopholes. Credit where credit is due: these are all great policies, but the devil is in the detail.
Negative gearing changes have been grandfathered, meaning existing investors are exempt from the new tax rules. I explicitly argued against this because it goes against the exact intergenerational equity goals the government purports to advance.
This debt burden is effectively being placed onto younger generations to repay throughout their working lives.
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