The broken-promises Budget is now also confirming its status as a back-to-front Budget.
The Albanese Government is modelling a most extraordinary display of how not to run a country.
It has gone something like this. Announce Budget changes. Confuse and concern those in the firing line. Say you will listen. Then push ahead anyway.
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The Budget has unearthed a telling glimpse of the political streak that lies beneath Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s folksy “Albo” persona.
As a reminder, the changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing had been regularly ruled out by the Prime Minister before he was returned at the election held in May last year.
But it seems Labor now feels untouchable given its huge electoral buffer.
It feels it can bulldoze its way through. Promises? So what! We changed out mind!
Much of the anger and concerns surround capital gains tax.
The 50 per cent discount will be replaced with an inflation-index model and paired with a 30 per cent minimum tax rate on net capital gains — extending beyond property to all investments.
On Friday the Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, Andrew Charlton — seen by some as a future treasurer — conceded the new model “doesn’t interact well” with small businesses that have a low capital base.
“The point that many startup founders . . . many small businesses have been making is valid,” he said. “Because that new regime doesn’t interact well if you have a really low capital base because you’ve got nothing to inflate off.”
So does the Government pause? Put the legislation to one side now that the various flaws have been pinpointed?
On Monday Mr Albanese revealed he was determined to continue his back-to-front approach and that legislation to establish the capital gains and negative gearing changes would be introduced on Thursday.
Yes that’s right. The legislation will be going into Parliament — and the details worked out later.
A second tranche of legislation down the track would deal with the “implementation details” like how businesses such as startups are treated, Mr Albanese said.
“The core elements will be in the legislation this Thursday . . . and then what we will have is legislation with the implementation and details. I mean, that is the normal process that occurs with tax policy,” he said
Really? The Prime Minister is effectively saying to those with concerns, “trust me”.
These are people whose businesses are potentially all of a sudden on the line. Mum-and-dad teams whose years of hard work could be diluted.
People who have seen the Prime Minister break his word in the most egregious way. Why would they accept a word he says now?
And in another power play the changes will be lumped together with the $250 tax offset, wedging the Coalition.
The real character of the Albanese Government is now fully revealing itself. And it is unbecoming, to say the least.
