Greens name price for passing Jim Chalmers’ tax plan

Jim Chalmers has conceded the government has lost “political paint” over its backdown on the Budget tax plan – and the broken promise to get it up in the first place – even as he was handed clarity over what he needs to do to pass it.

The Treasurer undertook another media blitz on Friday morning to again defend his Budget plans along with the tweaks announced on Thursday, just four weeks after the initial reveal.

“Obviously, there’s a big partisan political campaign against these changes, we understand that, we anticipated that, we expected that,” he told Radio National.

“Yes, we’ve lost some political paint on the way through, I’ve acknowledged that on multiple occasions now, but the more important thing than the politics of this is to get the policy right.”

He’s still hoping to pass legislation within a fortnight that would replace the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with an inflation-based one and impose a minimum 30 per cent rate on the taxable part, and limit negative gearing to new builds.

The same bill sets up the $250 working Australians tax offset and a new $1000 standard deduction.

But the Government needs support from the Greens to get all this through the Senate.

The minor party’s additional comments on a committee inquiry into the tax bills lay out its price for doing so.

It wants the grandfathering of negative gearing limited to one investment property per person, and limits on the ability of self-managed superannuation funds to invest in the housing market.

“The absurdly generous grandfathering provisions make this legislation a major missed opportunity,” Greens economics spokesman Nick McKim said.

“There is $33 billion a year just in negative gearing handouts for people with two or more properties – this is money that could directly fund cost-of-living relief for renters and mortgage holders.”

Another four Greens recommendations were dealt with in the changes Dr Chalmers and Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday.

They include clearer definitions of “new residential dwelling” and government payments exempt from minimum tax rates, and a curb on discretionary powers handed to the Treasurer.

The committee received some 900 submissions during its truncated inquiry, but only about a third were published by the reporting deadline.

Coalition senators used a dissenting report to slam the minimal scrutiny and what they said was a “failure to cooperate” from Dr Chalmers and Treasury officials.

Senator McKim is also looking favourably on a proposed exemption for start-up businesses.

But the resources sector fears it will miss out because of how this exemption has been defined, despite arguing junior miners are Australia’s “original start-ups”.

The managing director of one firm said it seemed like the Government was in thrall to the tech bros and that the Senate inquiry had been “purely theatre”, not true engagement.

“What doesn’t make sense to me is that the government is so sympathetic to the tech bros that result in a single taxing event, as opposed to exploration companies, which create an enduring asset that can’t be moved offshore and create so much more income for both the government and for the economy,” Stavely Minerals boss Chris Cairns told this masthead.

“I just think they’ve got this completely backwards.”

Shadow resources minister Susan McDonald said the Government should heed warnings from the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies – who on Thursday described the CGT tweaks as a kick in the guts – that the tax changes would starve junior miners of capital.

“New mines don’t appear overnight. Discovery to production can take 15 years. If exploration investment dries up now, Australia will be paying the price for years to come,” Senator McDonald said.

Tax is top of the Government’s agenda when Parliament returns on Monday, although Health Minister Mark Butler still sees dealing promptly with the multibillion-dollar cuts to the NDIS as a key priority.

The tax bills are listed first in the Senate on Monday morning.

By contrast, the NDIS legislation – yet to pass the lower house – doesn’t get a look-in until Thursday on the draft agenda.

A committee examination of that bill was delayed again on Friday and is now expected to report next Tuesday.

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John was frustrated by the delay and accused the Government of dragging its feet in publishing the findings after having demanded that disabled people and their families and advocates rush to contribute.

Shadow NDIS minister Melissa McIntosh laid the blame at the feet of the minor party and Government “partaking in the Canberra carry-on that everyday Australians hate” and said the delay would only add to people’s anxiety.