A Labor insider has claimed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been set up to look foolish amid an investigation into rumors of changes to negative gearing.
Lobbyist Cameron Milner – once former Labor leader Bill Shorten’s chief of staff – claims the leaked story that the Treasury is considering negative tax changes was ‘a very well-placed political blow to the Prime Minister’.
Milner claims the leak to Nine Newspapers journalist James Massola was carefully timed to emerge when Treasurer Jim Chalmers was on a ten-hour plane trip to China while other senior Labor ministers were also abroad, causing the Mr Albanese was completely exposed.
“The Prime Minister is never good under pressure, even the slightest pressure,” Milner wrote in the paper Sunday Telegraph.
“Labour MPs watched in horror as the Prime Minister slipped and slid, snapping and berating reporters for the impunity of asking about yet another broken Albo promise.”
When Albanese took over as Labor leader from Shorten, he said changes to negative gearing were off the table.
In interviews last week, Mr Albanese was repeatedly asked whether Labor would consider changes to negative gearing, and he repeatedly tried to dodge the question, leading to some heated confrontations with interviewers.
In a particularly testy interview, Sky News presenter Peter Stefanovic accused Albanese of previously ‘lying’ about not changing the promised phase three tax cuts, which the government changed at the start of this year.
Lobbyist Cameron Milner – once former Labor leader Bill Shorten’s chief of staff – claims the leaked story that the Treasury is considering negative tax changes was ‘a very well-placed political blow to the Prime Minister’ (pictured is Treasurer Jim Chalmers and wife Laura)
With his stiff grin quickly disappearing, Mr Albanese told Stefanovic that the promise had been broken because there had been a “huge change of circumstances” with a cost of living crisis, adding: “Hopefully you noticed.” .
In another acidic interview, Albanian radio host Patricia accused Karvelas of asking “not very smart questions” when she questioned the government’s negative gearing plans.
‘The Prime Minister was a disaster when he melted before our eyes. “He continued to use the language ‘not our policy, not my plan’ when previously he could have unequivocally ruled out the negative gearing change,” Milner wrote.
Milner claimed that the ‘political hit’ went better than expected, and that Dr Chalmers in turn ‘looked like a leader on the world stage’.
He claimed that the ‘clincher’ and the ‘clearest sign that it was all planned’ was that Dr. Chalmers left Mr Albanese ‘twisting in the wind’ for 48 hours before confirming that he had indeed requested a review of the negative gearing.
Dr. Chalmers said on Wednesday his department is exploring possible policy changes, including negative gearing and the capital gains tax rebate.
Milner claimed that the ‘political blow’ on Mr Albanese went better than expected, and that Dr Chalmers in turn ‘looked like a leader on the world stage’
“The Treasury Department is constantly reviewing all kinds of policy options,” he told reporters.
‘It is not unusual for the public service, and in my case my department, to investigate issues that are the subject of speculation in the public or in parliament; that’s how a good public service works.’
During his two-day trip, Dr Chalmers announced that China is lifting its ban on Australian lobster imports and implementing a stimulus package that would benefit Australian mining exports.
“Chalmers looked like a leader on the world stage this week, while the Albanians simply looked like a liar at home,” Milner wrote.
Mr Shorten’s plan to get rid of negative gearing contributed to his losing the ‘unlosable election’ to Scott Morrison in 2019, and the issue remains a sore point for many in Labour.
The negative gearing policy allows real estate investors to claim tax deductions when the costs of owning and maintaining their investment properties, such as interest on loans and maintenance costs, exceed the rental income they earn from them.
This tax benefit can reduce the taxable income of real estate investors and is used by investors to reduce their tax bills.
Lobbyist Cameron Milner (pictured) claimed a political blow had been struck against Mr Albanese