Treasurer Jim Chalmers has celebrated a second consecutive Budget surplus and dismissed the idea of a deliberate leak – as a Labor insider suggests he plotted against his boss.
Dr Chalmers on Monday boasted about how the final Budget outcome will reveal an even bigger surplus for 2023-24 than forecast in the May Budget.
‘The difference was explained entirely by less spending, not more revenue,’ he told ABC Radio National.
‘We actually collected less revenue than we were anticipating at Budget time, but spending was substantially down.’
The Treasurer’s announcement comes after Cameron Milner, who was chief-of-staff to former Labor leader Bill Shorten, suggested Dr Chalmers had last week deliberately timed a review into negative gearing to politically embarrass Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Nine Newspapers was given the drop revealing that Treasury was reviewing existing polices on negative gearing and whether a cap could be introduced, and the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount.
The news was published as Dr Chalmers was on a flight to China, leaving Mr Albanese to field some awkward questions.
‘Of all the days this could have been dropped, it was published as an exclusive the morning before the Treasurer boarded a plane for 10 hours,’ Mr Milner said in a News Corp opinion piece.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured with wife Laura) is crowing about delivering a second consecutive Budget surplus as a Labor insider reveals how he plotted against his boss
‘That meant the PM would be left all alone for an entire day to take the questions.’
The Treasurer’s announcement comes after Cameron Milner (pictured), who was chief-of-staff to former Labor leader Bill Shorten, suggested Dr Chalmers had last week deliberately timed a review into negative gearing to politically embarrass Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
But Dr Chalmers on Monday suggested it wasn’t in his interests for the Treasury modelling process to be leaked to the media.
‘It’s not really worth getting too worried about it,’ he told reporters in Canberra.
‘You know I would have liked to have spent the last week talking about very encouraging inflation figures, very productive engagement with Chinese counterparts and the fact we’re delivering two consecutive surpluses for the first time in almost two decades.’
Mr Milner, a former Labor state secretary in Queensland, said the whole affair demonstrated that Mr Albanese was out of his depth on detail.
‘Albanese is infamously never across the detail, while his Treasurer is never caught on the detail,’ he said.
‘The only time Chalmers looks the least bit ruffled is when he is having to take the hits for his hapless leader.’
Dr Chalmers, however, declined to explicitly explain if he had sought Treasury’s advice on negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, despite several attempts by ABC Radio National broadcaster Steve Cannane.
‘Sometimes the advice comes unprompted. Sometimes it’s sought by me,’ he said.
‘On this occasion, when there’s a contentious issue in the public domain and we’ve got a severe shortage of housing, of course treasurers get advice from their department on these sorts of issues.’
Pressed again, Dr Chalmers hinted he had sought Treasury’s advice on negative gearing, despite Labor under Mr Albanese dumping a policy to scrap the tax breaks for future investor landlords after Mr Shorten had lost the 2016 and 2019 elections.
The news was published as Dr Chalmers was on a flight to China , leaving Mr Albanese to field some awkward questions
‘I’ve made it clear on a number of occasions now in the course of the best part of a week that I got this advice because it was a contentious issue, it was in the public domain and it was a big part of the parliamentary debate as well,’ the Treasurer said.
Like Mr Milner, Dr Chalmers also belongs to Labor’s Right faction in Queensland.
The Treasurer on Monday revealed the Budget surplus for 2023-24 would be $15.8billion, up from $9.3billion forecast in the May Budget.
The surpluses for 2022-23 and 2023-24 are the first consecutive surpluses since 2007 and the first for a federal Labor government since 1989.
But falling iron ore prices are expected to see Australia have Budget deficits from 2024-25 as the government receipt less revenue from company tax.
‘We always take a deliberately conservative approach to commodity prices, and that’s been warranted,’ Dr Chalmers said.
‘In fact, in the last few months our commodity prices have been quite low.
‘Sometimes they’ve actually been below the assumptions that we’ve put in the Budget.’
Treasury’s Intergenerational report last year forecast Budget deficits until 2063.
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