Australian news and politics live updates: Albanese’s Budget nightmare as MP admits she got CGT change wrong

Shadow Treasurer Tim WIlson has delivered his Federal Budget reply at the National Press Club.

During his speech on Wednesday, Mr Wilson said the government had “declared war on the self-starters and small businesses of this nation”.

“We need new economic structures to empower people for the 21st century,” he added.

Mr Wilson launched the Stand with Small campaign to back small business owners during his address.

He said a future Coalition government would consult on a a Small Business Act which would aim to create a single, consistent legal definition for a small business across all Commonwealth laws.

“Each new law should require a small business regulatory impact statement, and provide a pathway for feedback and where small businesses should also be heard, from the RBA, ASIC, the ATO and Fair Work,” Wilson tells the National Press Club,” he said.

“We will replace Labor’s pessimism with Liberal optimism. A nation where the taxpayers are respected, hard work pays off, and Australians feel in control of their lives.”

In concluding his speech, Mr Wilson said Australia needs a “new dawn” in the wake of the release of the Budget he labelled a “dud”.

“A dawn that restores living standards, and protects our way of life. A dawn that puts trust in Australians and aligns their incentives to get ahead to the advancement of us all,” he said.

“A dawn that fills young Australians with hope, aspiration and confidence.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns has unleashed on the Albanese government over its inaction on bracket creep, saying Australins are being “stung”.

Mr Minns said the current top income tax rate of 47 per cent is too high, resulting in Aussie employees spending half of their week woking for the government.

“Whether it’s in this budget or in the future, we do need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to hand more money back to working Australians,” he said on Wednesday.

“The top marginal rate of 47 per cent, as I said in parliament last week, you’re working Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday for yourself, and then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for the government.

“In a general sense... we do need to make sure we’re taking urgent action when it comes to personal income taxes because at the moment, a lot of working families are getting stung.”

Coalition have called for the government to intervene in the return of a second cohort of ISIS-linked women and children as they’re expected to touch down in Australia within days.

Shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam says temporary exclusion orders should be placed on the group if Australian officials already suspect the group have committed serious terrorists and humanities offences.

It comes as authorities swooped on a group of 13 who touched down in Sydney and Melbourne earlier this month — charging three women with serious alleged crimes.

Two of the women faces charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly enslavement, while the third was charged for entering a declared conflict zone and joining ISIS.

According to reports in the Australian, a second cohort of six women are expected to arrive as early as next week.

Read the full story.

The Teal politician who represents the wealthy Sydney electorate of Wentworth has admitted she “probably” underestimated concerns about how capital gains tax (CGT) changes in the budget would affect the startup sector.

Two months before the Albanese government announced it would introduce a minimum 30 per cent tax on gains, independent MP Allegra Spender released a white paper which advocated the same move.

Following a backlash from entrepreneurs to axing the 50 per cent CGT discount, Ms Spender says she now thinks a reduction to 40 per cent would be more reasonable.

“I think that the Henry Review recommended a 40 per cent … discount on CGT,” Ms Spender told the ABC.

“I think, in retrospect, looking at my own proposal, I think that’s a more reasonable level, and so that’s personally where I think that would be a reasonable level at the CGT”.

The former businesswoman says she would also like the government to return increased taxes to Australians through lower marginal tax rates.

“You need to give all of that back as lower marginal tax rates because that’s actually going to really help young people. So that’s what I’m working through at the moment”.

Andrew Charlton, who as cabinet secretary would have sat in on all pre-budget discussions, says the claims in a meme campaign that the Government is imposing a 47 per cent tax on start-ups and small businesses are wrong.

Taking talkback questions about the budget measures on ABC radio, the assistant minister for the digital economy acknowledged that start-ups are good for the economy and that founders take risks in pursuing their big ideas.

“However, the claims and memes that are floating around on the internet are just factually incorrect,” he said.

“We are not increasing the tax rate for those people in any way. They were already paying their top marginal tax rate on the capital gain in the old regime.

“If they sold their business, they were paying their top marginal rate, their marginal rate on the capital gain. It’s just that, that capital gain was being reduced by 50 per cent and then their marginal rate was applied to it.

“What’s going to happen now is actually quite similar, but they’re still going to pay the exact same rate, but instead of their capital gain being reduced by 50 per cent, the capital gain is going to be reduced by something else, and that is by the rate of inflation … over the life of that investment

“Now, whether that is more or less will depend on the circumstances of the individual and the business, but it is absolutely not true to say that we are somehow increasing tax to 40 per cent, 47 per cent on entrepreneurs or small businesses already paying their marginal rate.”

The Prime Minister has responded to reports that the return of the remaining cohort of so-called ISIS brides and their children from a camp in Syria is imminent.

He said if they do come back to Australia, they will face the full force of the law, as with the women who returned a couple of weeks ago, three of whom were arrested at the airport.

“The US State Department has been very keen on people leaving those camps. We are not providing any assistance,” he told ABC Radio on Wednesday morning.

“I note that on the last journey back, there was an ABC person on the plane. There wasn’t a government person on the plane, because we weren’t providing any assistance, and won’t.”

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Anthony Albanese is finishing up his visit to Perth the way he started it, in the ABC radio studio.

He was asked if there have been unintended consequences from the Budget, given the amount of confusion and outrage across whole swathes of society about the tax changes, with an example given from a caller who uses a trust to distribute money to charities that don’t qualify for tax-deductible donations.

Under the Budget changes, discretionary trusts will now have a 30 per cent tax imposed on them.

“The reason why 30 per cent is chosen is that’s the tax rate between $45,000 and $135,000, which is where most workers are, that is their marginal tax rate,” Mr Albanese said.

“I would say that a whole range of the campaigns that have been run aren’t based upon facts of what is actually occurring. We will have the legislation in the Parliament in a couple of weeks’ time, people will be able to assess that.”

Assistant Multicultural Affairs Minister Julian Hill said on Wednesday that confused Australians should read the Budget papers, claiming most will then be on board with the Albanese Government’s controversial changes.

“More Australians support these (Budget changes) than oppose them”.

“But the biggest number of people are unsure, because they actually want these things explained and want to understand why this is going to make the country better.

“I’m absolutely confident, absolutely confident that as we explain these changes to Australians … we win the policy argument, we win the politics, if the Opposition just sit there and play politics, that’s a matter for them.”

Mr Hill then told Aussies to get the Budget papers, go to “page one, section four”, saying “all the details are there”.

“It’s a compelling case why these changes will make Australia’s tax system fairer, more productive and give Australians a fair crack.”

US President Donald Trump has shared new details about his plans to attack Iran, saying he is “not going to let the world be blown up on my watch”, telling Iran they now only have “a limited period of time”.

Mr Trump on Monday night announced that he had postponed a major new attack on Iran at a time when long-term peace negotiations appeared to have stalled.

Now, Mr Trump has revealed that his lethal attack was only “an hour away”.

“They knew I was getting ready to attack,” Mr Trump said on Tuesday.

“I was an hour away from making the decision to go today (Tuesday US time). I had made the decision.

“They (negotiators) heard I had made the decision and said ‘sir can you give us a couple more days because we think they’re being reasonable’.”

Mr Trump went on to say that his next attack could now be triggered in “two or three days”, claiming that Iran’s leaders are begging for a deal.

​Read the full story. ​

The Albanese Government is reportedly waiting for formal advice confirming that more so-called ISIS brides are booked to fly back to Australia, just weeks after four other women and their children returned from Syria.

Reports claim that six Australian women linked to the Islamic State and their children are to return next week.

The women are understood to be in a notorious Syrian prison camp, the Kurdish-controlled al-Roj internment camp, something the US has been pushing to shut down.

Reports suggest that the Syrian Government has unlocked funds that would get the women back to Australia.