“Jim Chalmers Budget speech should be codenamed FIGJAM” | Up Late with Ben Harvey

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]A budget that seizes opportunity.

[00:00:02]>> If you count war in the Middle East, rampant inflation, global fuel shortages, and a housing crisis as opportunities, then sure, this budget is ambitious in the face of adversity.

[00:00:13]>> Jim Charas says his latest budget is responsible, reforming, and most importantly, fairer, fairer, fairer, fairer, fairer.

[00:00:21]>> The treasurer has framed himself as a modern-day intergenerational Robin Hood.

[00:00:25]>> ARE YOU WITH ME? YAY OR NAY? WHICH ONE MEANS YES? taking from cashed up baby boomers and giving to millennials and Gen Zed who by sheer coincidence have just overtaken the boomers as the biggest cohort of voters >> responding to the pressures of the here and now while embracing our intergenerational responsibilities.

[00:00:44]>> The government had been warming us up to the idea of broken election promises.

[00:00:49]>> Not that we needed warming up.

[00:00:50]>> We all remember those stage three tax cuts that didn't happen. So when Charmers and Elbow assured us they weren't going to change negative gearing capital gains and family trusts, we kind of knew the writing was on the wall.

[00:01:01]>> We'll limit negative gearing for residential property to new builds from July next year. We'll also introduce a minimum 30% tax rate on capital gains from July next year and on discretionary trust from July the year after.

[00:01:15]>> Seriously, who is the idiot in this? The person who consistently bullshits or the person who consistently swallows it?

[00:01:21]fooled me once.

[00:01:24]Shame on shame on you.

[00:01:31]>> It fooled me. We can't get fooled again.

[00:01:36]>> Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

[00:01:37]>> Tuesday's budget assumes the oil price will go from today's $100 a barrel to $80 by next June. But Jim hinted at a more desperate Mad Max style scenario.

[00:01:48]Treasury also presents a more severe scenario where the oil price peaks at $200 a barrel and takes three years to fall back down.

[00:01:56]>> That'll have everyone reaching for the Emodium.

[00:02:00]He didn't dwell on what might have been for too long because that would have reduced the amount of time he had for the rest of the speech which had the code name Fig Jam.

[00:02:08]>> No other budget in the 2000s has set out this much responsible budget repair and this much economic reform. This budget includes the most significant tax reform package in more than a quarter of a century.

[00:02:23]>> Been a tougher cell this year.

[00:02:24]>> He got lucky early on as treasurer with two consecutive surpluses. The first in almost 20 years because Australia went on a postco party.

[00:02:32]>> Am I missing a tooth?

[00:02:34]>> Then epic fury triggered an epic financial hangover.

[00:02:37]>> Gross debt will be $982 billion at the end of this financial year >> and heading towards a trillion. Put it on the tab. That's as good as money, sir. Those are IUs.

[00:02:48]>> Jim still found a bit of cash for workers.

[00:02:50]>> This guy lives to give. $250 tax offset for 13.5 million workers. That's 54 bucks a week or $7.70 a day, but you got to wait a year to get it. By which time inflation will mean your tax break might buy you what? Half a cup of coffee a day.

[00:03:05]>> That's $37.

[00:03:07]>> Awesome.

[00:03:08]>> So, what are some of the other key budget takeouts?

[00:03:10]>> Two things. Fear of running out of fuel is front and center. We are responding to the biggest oil shock in history with a comprehensive 14.8 billion plan.

[00:03:20]>> A billion of that for the domestic production of low emission fuel.

[00:03:25]>> THAT WAS ME.

[00:03:27]>> AFTER fuel was housing and the need to inject some intergenerational fairness.

[00:03:32]>> This challenge hits young workers and families hard and we're addressing it from every responsible angle. He's paying for Gen Zed's new home by screwing over the boomers with changes to negative gearing and capital gains.

[00:03:43]>> Fulfilling our obligations and our responsibilities to the generations to come.

[00:03:48]>> Which is bad news for Gen X who won't inherit as much. IT'S NOT FAIR. I'm Ben Harvey.