Tuesday, 14 October 2025


E&OE

Sarah Abo:

Joining us to discuss today's headlines is Shadow Minister for Small Business Tim Wilson and Independent MP Monique Ryan. Good to see you both this morning. Tim, let's start with you. Incredibly emotional scenes coming out of Israel and Gaza this morning.

Tim Wilson MP:

Incredibly emotional scenes not just out of Israel but also of course for many Australians from the Jewish community who've waited in cases where their friends, family for the end of conflict but also for the release of hostages. For two years I've worn this pin on my lapel for the hostages to return home. That's what it symbolises and it's a beautiful thing to be able to after two years take it off.

Sarah Abo:

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, there is so much relief and such emotional scenes. There's also a lot of heartache. And Monique, I guess this isn't the end, is it? There are still significant challenges ahead when it comes to the peace process there.

Monique Ryan MP:

Yeah, look, there are huge challenges and I think the whole world is holding its breath and hoping that that peace process can continue to advance the sense that we saw yesterday with reunification of hostages with their families. It's just hard to imagine how emotional that must have been and how difficult the last two years have been for all people involved on both sides. And we all want the peace process to continue to advanced and for a sustained peace to be achieved in the Middle East.

Sarah Abo:

And we're seeing such an incredible, I suppose, united front when it comes to the global position on this, obviously orchestrated by Donald Trump. Tim, is there a role here for Australia when we look at long-standing peace in the region and securing that?

Tim Wilson MP:

Well, I think this whole conflict has been deeply revealing, actually, for what we faced as a country. I think it's revealed something about the charity of Australia's Jewish community and that they've always wanted a peace in the region and have always opposed the sorts of violence that's occurred against Israel. I think, sadly, it's also revealed some really problematic issues where since October 8 2023 there's been some Australians who've been celebrating their attacks on Israel. But we've seen our government do things like bring people from Gaza without security assessments. That's also been revealing. And I think it's also frankly been revealing that only a few weeks ago our Prime Minister in a choice between fighting for the sort of peace deal that is now being delivered or siding with Hamas and ultimately undermining this type of outcome made the wrong choice. So the role that we have now as a country is to make sure that we support ongoing peace and to think with our head, not simply to go with what's seemingly popular at the time.

Sarah Abo:

I'm not sure they're siding with Hamas I think everyone agrees that they need to go. Let's move on now. And a huge back flip from the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers is bowing to pressure from basically everyone about his superannuation tax reform. Monique, finally it feels as though common sense has prevailed. Do you think the loudest call came from the PM in the end?

Monique Ryan MP:

I think this is a great win for many Australians. It's a win for the women who tend to lose out on the superannuation stakes. It's win for young people who would have been affected eventually by the government's previous failure to index the tax brackets associated with the superannuation. This is something the crossbench has been pushing for a long time, and I'm really really glad to see Jim Chalmers announce those changes yesterday. We haven't seen all of the details of them, but I think it's a really positive move. But I think we also need to acknowledge that we do need tax reform in this country. This particular piece was relatively small. We need tax reforms that will make housing more affordable for young people. And so I'm glad that the government made this change yesterday. They responded to the evidence and I hope that they will continue to respond to the evidence in the tax reform that this country needs.

Sarah Abo:

Yeah, I mean, I think to your point there Monique the government is saying that it has listened to all sides and it's reflected on its policy, but Tim I don't know, does it kind of show poor judgment from the beginning to think that this was a good policy unchanged?

Tim Wilson MP:

It does show poor judgment and they've listened, well I wouldn't say they've even listened, they've eventually bowed to the pressure that's come from the Australian community, from the Opposition as people have slowly and progressively explained to them the practical application of their policy. Their war against self-managed superannuation funds continues unabated where they continue to say to anyone who wants to operate outside of the industry superfund system that they control, the Labor Party controls. They don't want people to save for their retirement because their objective is to impose more taxes. We're going to look at the detail on this really carefully because they didn't understand their changes on the family savings tax on unrealised capital gains and it's not clear they understand the full consequences of what they've put forward now.

Sarah Abo:

Alright, will you support her? I know you've got to read through it as you say, but surely this is swinging in the direction that lends itself to your support.

Tim Wilson MP:

We'll go through the process of making sure we fully understand what's being put forward because what we found with their family savings tax on unrealised capital gains is there were a lot of little sneaky tricks and things that only came out over time and they wouldn't listen every step of the way that they were explained until eventually they came to that their plan wouldn't work. And that's what's led to the humiliation yesterday of Jim Chalmers where he's had to back down his plan years after it was initially proposed.

Sarah Abo:

A lot of relief for a lot of Aussies as you've both outlined there, guys. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, really appreciate it.

ENDS