Jeez John Kehoe, give it a rest, mate:
Bill Shorten government would face a revenue shortfall of up to $19 billion over the four-year budget period if a hostile Senate blocked several major tax increases should Labor win next year’s federal election.
Senate crossbenchers who currently control the balance of power oppose Labor’s plans to abolish cash refunds for excess franking credits, and none are prepared to support the limiting of future negative gearing to newly constructed homes, The Australian Financial Review revealed on Wednesday.
Nor are they likely to allow Labor to reinstate the deficit levy and increase the top marginal tax rate to 49 per cent.
In other fake news, if Mars invades Australia then we will turn green. And?
We believe Labor will have a far easier time passing its negative gearing policy given several senators support reform of some kind. However, it might require negotiation and possibly some compromise, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing and could potentially improve the policy’s design.
It’s also important to note that negative gearing reform is one of Labor’s signature policies. So if it comprehensively wins the upcoming election, then it has effectively won the popular vote on the issue. The Senate should (and likely will) take this into consideration when deliberating on the policy.
We also believe that making up news stories based upon long shot hypotheticals does not serve the interests of quality journalism or the nation.
