The clock is ticking on a golden opportunity for real change in Australia |
The May 2026 federal budget will mark one year since the Albanese government’s unexpected landslide win at the last election.
That budget is arguably the most important one for this term: setting the agenda for the government’s final two years and offering a chance to take some measured steps towards lasting reform. That includes rebalancing our income tax system.
Many of those decisions are being taken now. And Australia needs to make some big changes to the status quo to ensure a fair and prosperous future.
This includes reforms to make housing affordable, get to net zero in the least costly way, lift moribund productivity growth and ensure our health and care systems are high quality and sustainable. Doing nothing means stagnating living standards and a growing wealth divide.
Politicians who want to achieve lasting, meaningful change need to prepare the ground. Then they need to follow through with concrete steps that take us some of the way forward.
There also needs to be broad support for reform to withstand the blowback that will undoubtedly come from vested interests.
The federal government’s Economic Reform Roundtable back in August was an exercise in preparing the ground.
The roundtable process grappled with this uncomfortable truth: the long-term economic picture is not rosy and we have lost many years to inaction and policy gridlock.
It was unexpected – and welcome – that the government moved so quickly after its May 2025 election victory to........