Treasurer Chalmers Defends Housing Tax Reforms as One Nation Polls Rise Ahead of Senate Inquiry

Treasurer Jim Chalmers told a Labor party policy forum in Sydney on Thursday that One Nation does not vote in the interests of helping Australians. He said the party capitalises on voters' sense of disconnection caused by economic pressure. "The pace of change in our economy and in our society is accelerating and the global pressures are intensifying and I think people have got legitimate concerns about where they fit in that story," Chalmers said.

He described Australian politics as presenting a binary choice between right-wing parties and Labor. "The right-wing parties, One Nation, the National Party and the Liberal Party, they seek to capitalise on that sense of disconnection that people are legitimately feeling, whereas we're trying to address it," he said.

Chalmers added that One Nation votes directly against the interests of people who battle in the economy.

Chalmers defended the government's proposed housing tax reforms at the same forum. He said not everybody is born already at the top of the ladder like Opposition Leader Angus Taylor was. Chalmers stated that Taylor does not understand that a lot of people are struggling and is fighting to preserve a broken system.

A two-day Senate inquiry next week will examine the government's planned changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. Chalmers said the Albanese government will publish a consultation paper on which categories of business will be exempted from the new CGT regime. The government's temporary cut to the fuel excise is due to expire at the end of the month.

Chalmers said the government has not budgeted to extend the cut but reviews the arrangements on a week-to-week basis.