Chalmers must realise any reform relies on trust

Sydney Morning Herald

22-06-2025

Peter Hartcher acknowledges the media needs to give Jim Chalmers the space to consider the many possible changes needed to, among other things, our tax system, to prepare our democracy for the future (' Gentle Jim levels path to reform ', June 21). Chalmers says those changes will be viewed from the centre, that is, with no inherent political bias but with the country's needs as the guide. If that is the case, we will expand the GST to cover all items including food and increase it, acknowledging that is how you tax the rich. We will fairly distribute GST between states rather than buying votes of smaller states by robbing from larger ones. We will consider including the family home in the assets test for the pension if it exceeds, say, $2 million, and we will tax superannuation in retirement if that becomes necessary. If Chalmers can tell me he will at least consider all those things, then he may be a worthy successor to Paul Keating. If he can't, he shouldn't waste our time with grand speeches. Brian Barrett, Padstow
Peter Hartcher's refreshingly positive look at our treasurer's vision for Australia prompts this old-timer to look back as well as forward. I would urge Jim Chalmers to focus on two traditional turns of phrase used affectionately and ironically.
The first is 'a fair go'. We love thinking of ourselves as open-minded in the land of equal opportunity, but are the exorbitant tax privileges of just 80,000 of the richest people in the world proving a fair go is a joke? If so, how can we reinvent it with pride?
Our second phrase is 'she'll be right, mate'. All too often, though, it reflects a dismissive apathy afflicting Australia and the West from the effects of globalisation and bullies wearing tin stars. The government's goal should be to inspire a genuine fair go until it can say 'she'll be right' and mean it. Peter Farmer, Northbridge
I find Hartcher's take on Chalmers' proposed new superannuation tax on balances over $3 million to be confounding. Hartcher should realise it's not the increase in tax that's the problem but the taxing of unrealised capital gains and the lack of indexation that has made this legislation unprecedented and unfair in the minds of many Australians, and rightly so. Jock Weir, West Wyalong
Chalmers is right to ask whether Australia still has the appetite for meaningful reform. It's a fair question. But if he really wants the public to come with him, he'll need to show more care in how these reforms are shaped. Take the proposed superannuation tax on balances over $3 million. It's not the lift from 15 per cent to 30 per cent that's causing alarm — most retirees can see the logic and could plan for that. What's concerning is the move to tax unrealised gains. That's not income – it's just a value on paper; it's volatile and it may not persist. So a policy change which could have been accepted without fuss has become the 'sheer ventilation' Hartcher describes. Reform depends on trust – on people believing the process is fair, measured and transparent. By making unreasonable demands like this and framing them for minor tweaks, Chalmers risks the very consensus he's asking for. Marina Cardillo, Beecroft
Chalmers deserves support for his plans to rejuvenate our faltering economy. If the naysayers, big business, the conservative press and the Coalition, torpedo his efforts, they will be forever condemned for their negativity. Andrew Macintosh, Cromer
If Chalmers wants to improve productivity through tax changes, start with housing. Australia puts too much investment into housing, reducing investment in skills, equipment, transport et cetera. Many people spend two hours-plus a day commuting as they can't afford to live near their work. Meanwhile, housing completions decline, rents increase and house prices accelerate again. House prices took off after John Howard and Peter Costello introduced the capital gains tax 50 per cent discount in the late 1990s. Reduce the discount to 25 per cent on housing. Exempt the first house for small investors. Put the additional tax received into construction trades training, more pre-apprenticeship courses, skilled migration and incentives to builders. If politically necessary, 'grandfather' existing investment in housing or take it to the next election. There'll be more homes built so prices and rents will level and productivity will improve. Have courage. If not now, when? Kevin Fell, Cooks Hill
Pipes and poles
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey startles with the budget (' $120b for new 'pipes and poles' in the budget ', June 21). Water and power services for new housing are not government budget funded. They are budget 'taxed'. Only the rural-based Essential Energy, Sydney Water and a few other urban water authorities belong to the NSW government.
All our pipes and poles companies are commercial entities that borrow money to fund capital investments. State government-owned utilities pay 'tax' to the state government equivalent to what they would pay the Commonwealth if privately owned.
In saying water and power will be a priority for the foreseeable future, the treasurer is effectively saying infrastructure is not a priority of the government. Public sector wages remain its priority. Peter Egan, Mosman
When Mookhey says spending on infrastructure over the next decade will be defined by 'pipes and poles', I hope the emphasis will be on pipes, including the orange ones for underground power distribution. Many Sydney suburbs already have more than their quota of ugly poles and wires, especially on major roads, where they are both a safety hazard and an eyesore. Doug Walker, Baulkham Hills
There is not one mention of any spend for rural and regional communities in this account. Says it all. It's as if we do not exist; that is until the city complains about the cost of food all transported at increasing cost from 'over the mountains' on 'dog tracks' for roads. A tunnel under the mountains, nah, the spend is on tunnels under Sydney; you will have to put up with a single lane climb up Mt Victoria, then a track festooned with Christmas tree traffic lights and changing speed zones for the next 60 kilometres. Bruce Clydsdale, Bathurst
Nature under attack
Reading reports of fossil-fuelled environmental disasters such as the algal bloom affecting South Australian waters leaves me in despair (' The South Australian algal bloom the rest of the country should be worried about ', June 21). People can move from areas affected by bushfires, droughts, flooding and sea level rise but flora and fauna can't. Where is the justice that allows government-approved fossil fuel exploitation to continue unabated at the expense of the natural environment?
In addressing this question, the crux of the proposed environmental protection laws must be inclusion of projects' impacts on climate change. Roger Epps, Armidale
Courage of gang rape survivors
Bravo to Karen Iles for speaking up (' I survived gang rape. We need to talk ', June 21). I am also a survivor of a gang rape – in 1966. I was also 17, and the headline in the paper was almost identical to the current one, almost 60 years later. The perpetrators were not 'others', children of migrants. They were five 'good' Aussie boys. This crime transcends ethnic boundaries. The police would not believe my claim when I reported it. Not until a very invasive test by a doctor, with various other people present, watching with salacious glee, proved I had been a virgin. In those days, if I hadn't been, then there would have been no case. I had asked for it. Still, the defence lawyers managed to make it look as if I had invited and enjoyed the encounter. In the end, some got off and the others got a slap on the wrist. In hindsight, I would not have put myself through the court case. But I had thought it would make things easier for future victims. The local gossip mill at the time remained in overdrive for years after it happened. Yet here we are, more than half a century later. The case being held in an open court meant there was no control over who heard and interpreted the proceedings. My heart goes out to this girl. All I can say is that you can survive and overcome it. My proof is my four kids, 10 grandchildren and a loving husband who did not judge when I told him about it. Name and address supplied
I am staggered after reading Karen Iles' article. Like many octogenarians, I have completed a memoir including my involvement in the ferment of the 1970s Women's Movement. I described the era of my youth when publicity of sexual assaults on women resorted to judgmental terms like the ones Karen Iles mentions. Back then, reports lacked any wider objectivity, which could include questioning the man's behaviour. Why have we made so little progress despite the evolution of behavioural science? I really want to know. Glenda Gartrell, Newtown
I cannot imagine the horror of what you went through, Karen, but I am so glad that you survived and speak for those who cannot. It needs to be said. Bravo. Michele Sharp, Bondi Beach
How brave of Karen Iles to speak out about the horrors of gang rape. This shocking crime must be suitably punished and laws should reflect the severity of the crime.
The brave girls and women who report these crimes must have the total support of police and the justice system to encourage others to come forward knowing they will be given all the help they need to survive a harrowing criminal justice process. Denis Suttling, Newport Beach
Karen Iles is to be applauded for tackling a subject we shrink from. One aspect shines a spotlight on the sheer brutality inherent in rape. It is all too often employed in times of war when an invading army uses rape to terrorise and subdue a civilian population. Misogyny is a term that almost sanitises rape – it is an act of pure hatred and utter contempt. If a bunch of rugger buggers ever thinks it might be fun, Chris Minns has an opportunity, indeed an obligation, to come down harder than ever before on the crime of rape. Margaret Johnston, Paddington
Dead reckoning
My son recently came upon a poem that I think is as apt today as it was in the 1930s. From The Book of the Dead, by activist Muriel Rukeyser: 'What three things can never be done?/Forget. Keep silent. Stand alone.'
Pauline McGinley, Drummoyne
EVs' energy boost
With petrol being the 'single biggest weekly expense for most households' and the global oil market so volatile, an EV is a wise investment (' There's no crisis in oil markets yet − but your bowser bill could creep up', June 21). Secondhand EVs are as cheap as chips, due to largely unfounded claims about battery reliability. By saving on weekly fuel costs, it's possible to pay off a good used EV sedan in about three years. New EVs are increasingly affordable as Chinese models flood the market. It makes a lot of sense for the government to encourage EV uptake for our energy security when petrol prices are unreliable. On top of this, transport contributes more than a fifth of our domestic emissions. Perhaps the biggest benefit would be a reduction in our pollution levels. Anne O'Hara, Wanniassa (ACT)
Hurtful words
I am outraged, and more (‴ ⁣⁣Fungus bench' should outrage school parents ', June 21). And I'm not even a school parent. Also, I am alarmed for the good public servants dismissed by their boss as 'oxygen thieves'. What a lowlife wordsmith Anthony Manning is. What happens next? Jennifer Fergus, Croydon
Barking madness
It's hard to find anything more self-indulgent than the growing cult of treating dogs as mini humans, not the domesticated animals they are (' From 'puppitinis' to pooch-only high teas ', June 21). In a city where food banks are stretched to the limit and children live in poverty, it appears that some think it makes sense to indulge in their fur baby's unnecessary 'dog-lato'. Michael Berg, Randwick
Years ago I went to a hardware shop to look for a self-assembly dog kennel kit. One of the older staff helping me look for it asked me why I wouldn't just let the dog sleep in the space under the house. It made total sense. Another pet shop owner told me, not too long ago, people have too much time on their hands when I asked him if he had a toothbrush and toothpaste kit for my dog. He said he could sell it to me but questioned the need for it. When I read about the pooch-cafes I only want to say, 'Really?' It is anthropomorphism gone barking mad. Manbir Singh Kohli, Pemulwuy
Homme de plume
Dear Doctor, I seek advice on transitioning to become an emu. I'm completely turned off by the dangerously nutty humans I see on the news and don't identify as one any longer. I want a simple, peaceful life without any politics, warmongering or religion. I have long skinny legs and beady eyes, so feel my choice is appropriate and the species-affirming won't be too much of a problem. Dave Watts, Avalon