Monday, 19 October 2026

Topics: Labor’s small business tax; spending; GST; the Coalition’s Tax Back Guarantee; EU FTA; Senator Steele-John; Australian Greens

E&OE……………………..

Emma Rebellato: Well, let's get more now on some of our top stories this morning, and we're joined by Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson in the studio. Good morning.

Tim Wilson: Good morning.

James Glenday: Welcome back.

Emma Rebellato: Let's start with the government's trust proposals to bring in a minimum tax rate of 30%. Are there any changes that the Coalition would be willing to support here, or are you just dead set against it?

Tim Wilson: Dead set against and repeal, because the government, one, didn't take these changes to an election, that's the first important test, but the way they're practically going to apply, when you have distributions between different trusts, what it's going to do is lead many small businesses to pay in excess of 60% of tax. The Assistant Treasurer was on Insiders yesterday and wouldn't rule that out, because the way this small business tax works, it can lead to massive costs and massive liabilities on small business, simply because they want to get on with their job and build a business, particularly in the construction sector. The way it works, it will crush new developments, new housing, making it harder for young Australians to buy their first home, and push up the price of rents.

James Glenday: Last time you were here, you were talking about reckless government spending, its impact on inflation, and the unsustainable position of the budget. If you are opposing what the government's doing on trusts, on negative gearing, on private health for people over the age of 65, what sort of spending reductions are you going to support? The government says it is trying to get debt down, and that you're simply not helping.

Tim Wilson: Well, that's cute spin from the government. They're continuing to spend more than any government over the past 40 years outside of a pandemic. They have projected out deficits for the next 40 years by their own numbers, not by mine, and we've said consistently, we will address welfare for future non-citizens, we will make sure that bureaucracies that don't achieve their objectives don't continue to operate, like housing bureaucracies that don't build new homes, climate bureaucracies that don't cut emissions. And more importantly, we'll make sure that the corruption and waste in the system is taken out. We've gone through and outlined a number of examples last time I was on this program.

James Glenday: You did. You make some headlines, in fact.

Tim Wilson: … and continue to be a problem. I mean, the reality is the NDIS corruption has not been addressed, despite the government claiming that they're trying to target it.

James Glenday: I just want to ask about one of those ideas that's been floating around within the Coalition ether. We had the Grattan Institute on earlier. It wants big bang tax reform. It wants the GST to go up to 15%. Why is the Coalition opposed to this idea, particularly given some prominent Liberals think this is not actually a bad idea?

Tim Wilson: Well, at the moment Australians are struggling to keep their head above financial water. I don't think the solution is to push them under. What we actually want to do is back Australians, and we have a tax reform package, which is our Tax Back Guarantee. That makes sure that income tax thresholds move to make sure that inflation can't continue to increase income tax without passing any laws. It's very clear to us that Australian households are doing it tough right now, and having bold tax reforms as we're putting forward is an important part of helping Australians and backing them to get ahead.

Emma Rebellato: The Grattan Institute, though, says that reining in spending is just not going to cut it here. That there are so many things looking forward with the big picture that we need to spend money on, that if you rein in spending, it's not going to cut it. So, shouldn't you look at an overall, at a bigger picture here?

Tim Wilson: We are looking at a bigger picture, which is specifically focused, one, on reining in spending, because it is important. I’m sorry, the honest taxes paid by honest Australians shouldn't be going to dishonest outcomes and dishonest organised crime. And then, of course, we need to make sure that we back Australians to grow the economy. The last federal budget did the exact opposite of that. They're imposing higher taxes on the productive part of the economy, particularly small businesses, who are the drivers of productivity, innovation and employment in the economy, and the answer from the Albanese government is, ‘let them eat taxes’. Well, sorry, we're focused on making sure that we back small business so they can stand up and employ Australians.

James Glenday: Have you had a chat with Josh Frydenberg? He was, sort of floating, this GST idea as a bit of a ‘Festival of Josh’ last week.

Tim Wilson: Oh well, people are always entitled to their views once they leave parliament, but our focus is on delivering a Tax Back Guarantee, which will actually back Australians and give them a pathway to get forward. We're also going to repeal the government's capital gains tax increases, which again, are just going to harm the innovative and productive parts of the economy that we desperately need to grow, because if we don't, we're not going to have the future economic growth to employ Australians and give them their chance.

Emma Rebellato: Let's talk about the free trade agreement with Europe. Is the National Party running the Coalition's trade policy here?

Tim Wilson: Not at all. What our concern is, is to make sure that we're getting the best outcome for Australian agriculture…

Emma Rebellato: So, does that mean you're against it?

Tim Wilson: We've said that we haven't seen the legislation, it hasn't gone to the parliament yet, but we're certainly opposed to it while going through the parliamentary and Coalition processes that still need to be done. But one of the key things is we want the best outcomes for our farmers. The National Farmers' Federation is not out there calling for this FTA. Meat & Livestock Australia are not out there calling for this FTA. The trade minister, frankly, has made a complete hash of the negotiations. His job is to advance Australia's national interest, and we want him to do that.James Glenday: The trade minister will join us in about half an hour's time. I do find this slightly extraordinary. Business groups are saying, look, this is not a perfect deal, but it's a pretty good deal. I mean, we could pull out old vision of John Howard walking around Europe trying to get a trade deal. This has been something your side of politics pushed for a long time. Are you seriously going to stand in front of it?

Tim Wilson: We support free trade. We support free trade, and we particularly believe when it advances Australia's national interest. The problem with the deal as it stands, and the trade minister is the one who signed this, is it’s one that doesn't advance the interests of Australian agricultural producers. The question for the trade minister is, why hasn't he stood up for Australia's national interest? Why aren't the National Farmers' Federation, why isn't Meat & Livestock Australia, why isn't AUSVEG out there making the case for this deal? It's because they feel like they've been sold out.

Emma Rebellato: But this could take months, if not years, to renegotiate if you think it's a bad deal, right?

Tim Wilson: Well, we've had multiple times where this deal has gone through negotiations. There's an old rule in trade policy, you don't want to sell out the country and do a bad deal. a better alternative is no deal at all.

James Glenday: It's interesting. Just on a parliamentary issue, we had the Greens leader David Shoebridge on the show on Friday about the allegations against Jordon Steele-John, who, of course, we should say, Senator Steele-John denies these allegations. Senator Shoebridge reckons he wasn't aware about them till he became leader. Parliament is a small place. Do you think that's plausible, given what everyone can read for themselves in the press?

Tim Wilson: It's very difficult to comment because I don't know what's inside David Shoebridge's mind. I don't know, of course, what rumours are circulating around…

James Glenday: Had you heard these sorts of rumours before?

Tim Wilson: Truthfully, no, I hadn't. And I think it's very important that if allegations are made, that they are backed up with evidence. I'm not passing judgment one way or the other, but everything needs to go through proper processes to make sure that they're substantiated.

James Glenday: The Greens leader says that Senator Steele-John is on leave and that leave means leave. Senator Steele-John says he's not on leave. If these sorts of allegations are made, should people go on leave?

Tim Wilson: Well, I think it's up to them to make a judgment call based on, obviously, what they know, but it would seem to me that retreating from the public square while they're dealt with is probably in everybody's best interests, but that's a procedural thing.

Emma Rebellato: Tim Wilson, thanks very much for coming in.

Tim Wilson: Thank you.

James Glenday: Thanks for your time.

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