Labor has been accused of rushing through its controversial capital gains tax changes with a bill being introduced to Parliament on Tuesday morning with little notice ahead of an expected vote on Wednesday.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 4) Bill 2026 is listed on the House of Representatives notice paper for Tuesday, but shadow treasurer Tim Wilson only received a government briefing from Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ office this morning.
“Just before midnight last night, the Treasurer flagged a new tax bill that he hasn’t flagged to the Parliament, which is being introduced this morning,” Mr Wilson told reporters in Canberra.
“The Treasurer is now trying to bully the Parliament into passing tax changes which have not been discussed by the Parliament and have not been flagged or considered by the Parliament.
“This is a very distressing trend. At every point, this government has taken no interest in democracy or standing up for basic processes.”
An expected vote on the bill has now been pushed back to Wednesday, after initially being scheduled for Tuesday.
“Now they’re doing so at five minutes to midnight and ramming them through the Parliament today,” Mr Wilson said.
“We still don’t know the details of it, and this is what’s most distressing. The kinder, gentler Parliament has already been suffocated by this Treasurer.”
Dr Chalmers last month flagged the Federal Government would announce a capital gains tax carve-out for innovative start-ups, including the scrapping of a $10 million lifetime cap on tax concessions along with a strict definition of what constituted “innovative” to qualify for the 50 per cent CGT discount.
The tech sector campaigned against the plan to double the maximum capital gains tax rate to 47 per cent, as part of a plan for a minimum 30 per cent tax, leading to Dr Chalmer announcing that the minimum hold period to be eligible for the 50 per cent CGT concession would be raised to five years, up from three.
Companies would also get the 50 per cent CGT discount if they were 15 years old, up from 10 years.
But the final detail of Labor’s compromise on its contentious capital gains tax changes, announced in the May Budget, are yet to be spelt out.
The bill also includes research and development tax concessions and fringe benefits on electric vehicles.
A separate bill on applying a minimum 30 per cent tax on discretionary trusts, from July 2028, is also listed for Tuesday.
This bill, to tax the distributions from trusts where beneficiaries can be altered, is known as the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Minimum Tax on Discretionary Trusts) Bill 2026.