Opinion · Live Wire
Key events 25m ago Hume says Bell ‘reached out’ to Aly after ‘shamed and stoned’ comments 2h ago Australia and Jordan sign joint statement on defence and security 2h ago Coalition bid to send trust tax bill to inquiry fails ... for now 3h ago Chalmers introduces trusts tax legislation to the House 3h ago Albanese says ‘thoughts and prayers’ with Pope Leo XIV following cancer diagnosis 3h ago Bell’s comments said ‘in the heat of the moment’ says Hanson 4h ago Nationals MP defends Bell’s ‘shamed and stoned’ comments 5h ago PM says he intervened on ATO credit card ban 6h ago Labor to introduce gas reservation scheme bill with a fifth to stay onshore 6h ago Chalmers warns against scolding One Nation voters: 'Feelings are as real as facts' Chalmers introduces trusts tax legislation to the House Jim Chalmers is introducing his bill to implement a minimum 30% tax on discretionary trusts. He says it’s a loophole some wealthy Australians have been using to avoid tax, that has been called for for decades over multiple tax reviews. He tells the house: double quotation mark This is all about better aligning the tax treatment of income from assets and the income from work and it’s also about funding the income tax cuts for workers that we are delivering again and again.
The flexibility provided by discretionary trusts allows some people to plan their tax affairs in ways that aren’t available to most workers and families. The opposition doesn’t want this passed and won’t support it. That leaves the Greens as the only pathway.
The Greens have said there’s a few hurdles to get their support, including to stop parents being able to use trust tax exemptions to pay for private school fees. The Greens told the ABC the legislation has payment exemptions for not-for-profits, charities and other tax-exempt entities, including private schools. In pictures: Palau president visits Australia Surangel Whipps Jr , the president of Palau, the pacific nation home to around 18,000, has visited Australia this week to strengthen diplomatic and security ties and open an embassy in Canberra.
This morning he met the prime minister and Jodie Haydon at the lodge. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his wife, Jodie Haydon, greet the president of Palau, Surangel Whipps Jr. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA To, I’m sure, no one’s shock, Albo’s dog Toto was there for the greeting too.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA Albanese says ‘thoughts and prayers’ with Pope Leo XIV following cancer diagnosis Anthony Albanese has released a statement after the Vatican revealed Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Albanese says his thoughts and prayers are with the Pope. double quotation mark Pope Leo XIV is a source of inspiration to Catholics right around the world – and here in Australia. He is a voice for peace, humanity and reason in our modern world.
My thoughts and prayers are with him as he recovers from his recent surgery. We hope and pray for a quick recovery. Bell’s comments said ‘in the heat of the moment’ says Hanson One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has told everyone to “calm down” over Angie Bell’s comments calling for Anthony Albanese and the small business minister, Anne Aly to be “shamed and stoned”.
Bell made the comments to the House yesterday, and was later forced to withdraw them. Hanson told reporters on her way into Parliament: double quotation mark [It was] said in the heat of the moment, I think everyone just calm down all right? I’ve been dealing with this for many, many years.
Just calm down. Labor MP says Bell’s comment ‘reprehensible’ as Taylor dismisses concerns Labor MP, Julian Hill has called Angie Bell’s comments “reprehensible” after she said the prime minister and the small business minister, Anne Aly , should be “shamed and stoned” over the ATO’s now-delayed ban on credit card payments. Speaking to News24 this morning, Hill said Bell a Liberal frontbencher should be held to a higher standard “for the words that we utter”: double quotation mark I think those comments are reprehensible, particularly against a Muslim woman.
But you know, she withdrew. We need to lower the temperature, and you can’t just dismiss this stuff. It needs to be aired, it needs to be put in context and stopped.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, though, said the reaction to the comments were being used as a distraction. He told reporters on his way into Parliament: double quotation mark She’s [Bell] withdrawn. She’s withdrawn the comments.
Can I say, the small business minister shouldn’t distract from her failures. And she has failed. ‘Greedy’: Taylor condemns trust tax changes The opposition has made it clear it will not be supporting the government’s changes to impost a minimum 30% tax on discretionary trusts.
Angus Taylor , speaking to journalists at the entrance of parliament, says the government is trying to implement the changes because it loves to spend money. double quotation mark Small businesses are going to see over $13bn of restructuring costs here, as we’ve seen reporting in the last couple of days, $13bn they’re going to have to wear. The government didn’t think about any of this. They didn’t think about the stamp duty implications of their tax changes, they didn’t think about the restructuring costs.
In the end, they’re greedy for the money. They need the money because they love to spend it. On RN Breakfast, Nationals MP Kevin Hogan said that while small businesses will be able to change their settings to avoid some of the additional tax (and they’ll have until mid 2028 to do it), their compliance costs will be high. double quotation mark I think the compliance costs are estimated to be more than what the government’s going to collect in revenue from this as well.
So again, makes us a less productive country. Nationals MP defends Bell’s ‘shamed and stoned’ comments We all make heat of the moment comments, says Nationals MP Kevin Hogan , defending his colleague Angie Bell , who yesterday said the prime minister and minister for small business, Anne Aly , should be “shamed and stoned” over the ATO credit card ban. Aly revealed on social media later that day that she had recently received 19 death threats, and called the comments “racist” and “misogynistic”.
Angie Bell in March. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Speaking to RN Breakfast this morning, Hogan disagrees that they were racist and misogynistic. double quotation mark We all make comments and I’ve been guilty too in the heat of the moment to use terms or phrases that shouldn’t be used and Angie quite rightly got up and withdrew it straight away and apologised ... No, I don’t think they were racist or misogynistic.
A small fact check here: It took about eight minutes for Bell to withdraw, after she was asked to do so by leader of the House, Tony Burke . ‘None of us is beyond criticism’: Chalmers on governing through murky waters Jim Chalmers does find himself in pretty rough economic seas to sail through – with high inflation, rising interest rates, and people angry with the increasing cost of living. At the halfway point of the term, and with One Nation’s rise in the polls, the government has around 18 months to turn things around and convince voters they’re still solid economic managers.
In a speech last night, Chalmers said the government should genuinely acknowledge the pressures people are under, and that the economy would get better. This morning, he’s asked if the government is struggling to sell its economic message to voters. He says: double quotation mark There are always a range of views.
When you do a senior job in a government which is governing in difficult times, there will always be a range of views. And I’ve tried to always take the approach that none of us is beyond criticism. Some people would like us to do more, some people would like us to do less.
That’s just the reality of a senior job in a government in difficult times. And so I accept that. I try and take all of the feedback that I get, good, bad, or indifferent, on board.
‘More than 95% of people don’t get trust income’, Chalmers defends tax changes Jim Chalmers says the government is right to hit trusts which are being used as tax loopholes, and that the majority of regular people don’t use them and don’t receive any benefit from them. The Coalition is dead opposed to the changes and says small businesses will be hit hard. Chalmers says around 10% of small businesses will be impacted, and the changes have been urged for decades. double quotation mark There are legitimate reasons for trusts, but they also allow a small proportion of people to manage their tax in ways that’s not available to most working Australians.
And that’s why there’s been 50 years of reviews now recommending that they be reformed. The use of these trusts, discretionary trusts, has doubled in the last 20 years, but still more than 95% of people don’t get trust income, and still less than 10% of small businesses would be affected by the changes that we’re proposing today doesn’t come until the middle of 2028. The Greens have told the ABC this morning that the government should ensure that trust loopholes can’t be used by parents to pay for private school fees.
Chalmers says that issue hasn’t yet been raised with him, and that the legislation has “reasonable arrangements for charities, for not-for-profits” – which private schools could be included in. Chalmers says intervention on credit card tax payments was a joint decision with the PM I have an open door too, says Jim Chalmers , after the PM yesterday seemed to take credit for delaying a ban by the ATO on credit card payments. Anthony Albanese says he received a text from Australian chamber of commerce and industry boss Andrew McKellar on Thursday morning and by Friday morning the problem was address.
Chalmers, not wanting to be seen to be left out of this, says he was in the conversation with ACCI too – and that it was a joint decision with the prime minister to intervene. He tells RN Breakfast: double quotation mark I have an open door. I’ve met with ACCI in recent weeks, in fact, and we were engaging on these issues as well ...
Last week on the Wednesday, I had discussions with the prime minister. We agreed that it would be appropriate to find a better way through for small business. We engaged with the business community on the Thursday, as we do frequently, on these sorts of issues.
Then [the assistant treasurer] Daniel Mulino and I took a proposal to ministers on the Friday morning after I discussed with the tax commissioner very early on Friday morning. And by late Friday morning, we had stepped in. Albanese and Chalmers say the decision on delaying a decision on credit cards for tax purposes was made jointly.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Source: The Guardian
