Jim Chalmers’ 2026 Budget has landed and, despite the pearl clutching from the Rich Boomers Lobby and Murdoch press, the sky has not fallen in.
Westy looks at the modest but meaningful move on negative gearing and capital gains tax, the failure to properly tax Australia’s gas exporters, the ever expanding AUKUS gravy train, Budget deficits, NDIS cuts, fossil fuel subsidies, private health insurance rorts and the latest on BHP’s lawsuit against Michael West Media.
The Budget takes a small step toward rebalancing an economy tilted toward investors and asset owners, but the biggest rort in the country remains untouched, foreign gas giants making billions from Australian resources while paying crumbs back to the public.
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Articles mentioned:
Chalmers’ budget. From landlord paradise to clever country?
Scary alert! Like negative gearing? Buy shares!
Tax relief for workers and pain for investors in budget
Supercharged inequality: rich investors stifle budget
Who benefits from negative gearing? Hint: probably not you.
Negative Gearing explained
‘Playing us for fools’: foreign gains fuel gas tax push
Small beer: revenue from gas export tax set to plummet
Time to make ’em pay! The big bludgers are the corporate tax dodgers
Time to make ’em pay! The big bludgers are the corporate tax dodgers
The Verdict: some progress on the looming multinational tax dodging reforms but “enormous” task ahead
Corporate tax avoidance. Who helps fund Australia, and who doesn’t?
Corporate tax avoidance. Who helps fund Australia, and who doesn’t?
Budget 2026 coverage, Michael West Media
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Chapters
00:00 Budget 2026
01:17 Negative gearing
03:44 Gas tax failure
05:16 AUKUS billions
06:40 Trump and Netanyahu war
07:41 NDIS cuts
08:14 LNG royalties
10:17 Royal Commission
11:07 Updates
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.
