‘Out of touch’: PM, Nat clash over reforms

Just a day after the Albanese government announced another change to avoid a so-called “widow tax” — which would mean if a property is jointly owned between husband and wife, exemptions will vanish if one party dies or there is divorce — the PM defended the reforms. Asked by Sunrise host Matt Shirvington if he still had the trust of the Australian people, Mr Albanese said the need for change was clear. “What’s been interesting, Shirvo, is that in those 45 days, there’s not anyone

saying that the housing market is currently working,’’ Mr Albanese said. “Now, if you know that there’s a problem, if everyone’s identified the problem and it’s agreed the system is broken, then you can’t just sit back. What we’ve done here is do something about it.” But that’s when host Nat Barr weighed in, asking if the Albanese Government was in a mess. “People agree something needed to change. It’s what you did that’s under question. Do you think making big announcements, causing confusion and

anger, then consulting the Australian public is a good way of governing?” she asked. “Well, that’s not what happened, Nat,” the Prime Minister said. “To be clear in the lead up to the budget, there was substantial debate already. We’d spoken about intergenerational equity and the need to give young people a fair crack.” However, the Sunrise host pushed back. “Prime Minister, for 45 days, people have been angry and confused. They have been running to their accountants, they don’t know what’s happening. Do you

think you’re out of touch?” Barr then asked. “No, I don’t, Nat,” Mr Albanese replied. “I’ll tell you what’s out of touch. What’s out of touch is saying the housing system is broken, but the government shouldn’t do anything about it.” ‘Scare campaigns will subside’ Mr Albanese predicted some of the “scare campaigns” will now subside. “People will still get the negative gearing, and you know what will happen now that it’s legislated?” he said. “Some of the nonsense and scare campaigns will dissipate because

people will be confronted with the reality. When people put in their tax returns after July 1, they will still have the negative gearing in place when they put it in next year for properties that they had prior to May. They’ll still be able to negatively gear those properties. Their tax arrangements won’t change.” Mr Albanese stressed that anyone who negatively geared a property right now would be able to continue as the changes are grandfathered. “This is the right thing to do,” he

said. “It will give young Australians a fair crack, but also importantly, last night’s changes give every Australian worker another tax cut, along with the tax cuts that we’d already legislated, that will come in next week, as well as six months of paid parental leave coming in, making urgent care clinics a permanent part of the system. “All of these changes will come in next week.” Mr Albanese said the broader changes on negative gearing would take a year to kick in, allowing the

government to make adjustments where needed, for example on the widow tax issue. “Our tax changes on capital gains, negative gearing on property, will come in in a year’s time, but we wanted to make sure that it’s legislated to give that certainty,’’ he said. “There has been a lot of misinformation. Now people have to debate the reality. The reality is the system was broken, and that’s why I, as Prime Minister, have a responsibility when something is identified as broken to do my

best to fix it, even if there’s a political cost of that. “My job is to do the right thing for the nation. There is a political cost at the moment, because it’s not just scare campaigning.” Shirvington then asked if Mr Albanese if his treasurer, Jim Chalmers, had “put him in this position”. “(It looks like) he’s unraveling every time there’s a new campaign, it’s not just housing, it’s a death tax, it’s its exemptions for small business, it’s a widow’s tax,” Shirvington said.

“At the end of the day, that budget was put down by your Treasurer, you must feel a little bit cranky towards the way that he’s done this as well.” “No, Jim Chalmers is doing a great job, and Matt, some of the things that you’ve raised there are the things that are just not true,’’ Mr Albanese said. “We’re making no changes to people’s inheritance arrangements, none, none. “These are sensible changes that are currently allowing young people to get a fair crack at

auctions tomorrow.”

Anthony Albanese, Nat Barr, Matt Shirvington, Sunrise, housing reforms, widow tax, exemptions, negative gearing, grandfathered, tax cuts, paid parental leave, urgent care clinics, Jim Chalmers, intergenerational equity