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Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers are ‘at war’ as the opposition claims a wedge has driven between the couple over house tax policy.
- The government has denied a break between the prime minister and the treasurer.
- The coalition questioned whether the couple were “at war” over tax policy
- Government leaders have denied rumors that they are fighting
A day of political missteps on fiscal policy has the administration denying concerns of a rift between Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers.
The prime minister was forced to clean up after his treasurer on Wednesday when Dr Chalmers repeatedly refused to categorically rule out any future changes to the capital gains tax exemption on the family home.
Dr. Chalmers later recanted, acknowledging that he should have done so during his morning derailment on television. He eventually went further by declaring that the tax reforms that Labor took for the 2019 election, such as postage credits and negative leverage, would not be overheated.
But on Thursday, the Coalition seized on the confusion and questioned whether the two men were “at war.”
The government has denied rumors that there is a rift between the prime minister and the treasurer.
“We have a Treasurer at war with the Prime Minister, a Prime Minister who openly overrides his Treasurer. Look, it’s schoolyard stuff,’ Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley told ABC’s RN.
But government leaders were quick to deny that the couple, who share birthdays on Thursday, were openly fighting with each other.
“They are good friends and have a great working relationship,” leader Tanya Plibersek said, laughing, when asked on Sky News.
She recalled that the couple had been in good spirits during a cabinet meeting earlier this week where the prime minister “thanked Jim” for his hard work on the superannuation tax concession proposal.
“They are on the same page because what we are proposing is a small, modest and necessary change to start dealing with the trillion dollars of debt the Liberals left behind for Australian taxpayers,” added Ms Plibersek.
The Coalition had questioned whether Mr. Albanese and Dr. Chalmers were fighting over tax reforms.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek (pictured) was one of several lawmakers who denied there was a feud, saying the couple are “good friends” with an “excellent working relationship.”
Retirement has become the latest flashpoint for the government after it announced the windfall tax for balances over $3 million would double from 15% to 30% in two years.
The change will initially affect 80,000 people, or 0.05 per cent of Australians, but the Treasurer has declined to say how many workers above that number will be affected by the higher tax in the coming decades.
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume conceded that while “there’s not a lot of sympathy for people with balances over $3m”, the government should be candid about its future impact.
‘How many people will you capture in two years?’ he questioned her on Nine’s Today.
‘Who’s going to fall into the net in five years, 10 years, 20 years because that $3 million hasn’t been indexed?’