Australian news and politics live: Chalmers to get major ministerial powers from controversial tax change bill

The Coalition has confirmed it intends to vote against Labor’s tax changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax.

At a joint party room meeting in Canberra, Liberal and National members resolved to oppose the legislation it insisted was “not going to work” and was “a rotten tax that’s going to make it harder to get into housing”.

In the May Budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced it would isolate negative gearing to new builds and axe the 50 per cent CGT discount for all asset classes.

Instead, Labor has proposed an inflation-index model paired with a 30 per cent minimum tax rate on net capital gains.

Within Labor’s package to be debated in the lower house on Tuesday will also be The Working Australians Tax Offset (WATO), which provides an additional tax cut of up to $250 for working Australians.

The Coalition supports WATO but not negative gearing or CGT.

While there had been calls within Coalition to split the combined tax bill, the Opposition will instead pursue amendments which it believes will be a “test” for Labor on addressing bracket creep”.

“This is really a test and a question for this government, whether they’re actually going to continue to tax the Australian people through bracket creep and secret taxes, or whether they’re going to support lower taxes sustainably and structurally ongoing for the Australian people,” a party spokesman said.

Australia’s 2.8 million minimum wage and award workers are receiving a 4.75 per cent pay rise from July 1, marking the most generous increase in three years.

The increase was above April’s inflation rate of 4.2 per cent and much better than last year’s increase of 3.5 per cent, marking the biggest increase since 2023 for those working in food services, retail, healthcare and social assistance and administration and support service roles.

From July 1, the national minimum wage is rising to $1004.90 a week or $26.44 an hour under industrial classification changes.

The entry-level wage of $978.10 a week or $25.70 an hour will apply for new staff for no more than six months and is expected to affect 100,000 of the lowest-paid workers.

Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher said the lowest paid had been suffering cuts in real wages since the end of the pandemic in 2022 as inflation soared before price pressures returned late last year ahead of the Middle East conflict.

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Business figures have warned that uncertainty around the final settings for the Government’s proposed changes to the capital gains tax discount is already turning away investors.

Cabinet minister Clare O’Neil said over the weekend that the Government was working to settle the final exemptions or carveouts “speedily”, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier indicated it would be dealt with at some point later in the year.

Today, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is also leaning on the accelerator, promising to finalise the consultation “as soon as we can” while making sure that people’s voices are heard.

He described the reporting that the tax bill gives him an unusually high level of ministerial discretion to decide final details as “another beat up” and pointed out that in such cases, Parliament has the power to overturn his decisions.

“It’s not unusual in tax legislation for the definitions to be settled in what are called legislative instruments. Those legislative instruments are disallowable by the Parliament. Tax law is full of these kinds of examples,” he said.

The Fair Work Commission will hand down its decision on the annual increase to the minimum wage and the award wages that follow on from that at 10am today.

Unions want a 6 per cent increase in anticipation of worsening inflation, while business groups say anything more than about 3.5 per cent would be unaffordable for employers.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said this morning that the Government had made it clear people on low wages “need and deserve a decent real wage increase today”, while declining to offer an actual figure.

“This is a really important way to help people with the cost of living, and when you combine it with the tax cuts which are before the Parliament this week, this is all about making sure that workers can have higher wages and lower taxes at the same time as we make the housing market fairer for first home buyers,” he said.

Australia has sanctioned Israeli settler farming outposts in the West Bank for the first time in response to escalating violence in the contested Palestinian territory.

The new diplomatic penalties against four settler farming outposts and three individuals, which took effect on Tuesday, are the latest in a long list applying to far-right Israeli figures.

The federal government has previously sanctioned Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who posted a video of himself berating pro-Palestine activists in May.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Israel must uphold its obligations under international law and take urgent action to end settler violence.

“Settler violence is used to displace Palestinians and perpetuate the settlement enterprise, through destruction of property, displacement of families, beatings, sexual assault, and torture, resulting in serious injuries and deaths,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The individuals and entities sanctioned today have undermined Israel’s own security and its standing in the world and harmed the interests of the Israeli people.

“Australia’s imposition of sanctions against them reflects our commitment to Israel and Palestine’s security and future.”

US President Donald Trump has again shared details of his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Trump said he has also spoken to Hezbollah, who have agreed to stop striking Israel if Israel agrees to stop striking them. After Mr Trump first made the claim, Mr Netanyahu said his position remained unchanged. That sparked another statement from the US President.

“I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi! I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers.

“Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”

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US President Donald Trump claims to have made a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah after Iran reportedly walked away from peace talks over escalating conflict in Lebanon.

Mr Trump claims negotiations are continuing and Israel will stop striking Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he told Mr Trump his position has not changed, threatening to strike terrorists in Lebanon and move troops deeper into the country.

As for Iran, state media outlets claim that Tehran has called off ceasefire talks in protest until Israel stops striking Lebanon.

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Jim Chalmers will reportedly be granted extraordinary discretionary powers from Labor’s controversial tax change bill, allowing the treasurer to make captain’s calls at his will.

The legislation has “ministerial discretion” inclusions that would allow Dr Chalmers to have final say over unclear elements in Labor’s post-Budget package.

It is understood that Dr Chalmers would be able to decide which assets can retain CGT discounts, what incomes could be exempt from minimum CGT and what is classified as a “new build” to be eligible for negative gearing.

If passed as is, Dr Chalmers would be free to make changes and final decisions after Labor rushes through their controversial changes.