The article reports on the current session of Australian Parliament, where various politicians are debating issues such as housing taxes, tobacco excise cuts, and organized crime. The key figure in this debate is Nationals MP Llew O'Brien, who is demanding a yes/no answer from Treasurer Jim Chalmers on whether the government will rule out any reduction in tobacco excise. According to Treasury data, under Senator Pauline Hanson's superannuation plan, the median full-time worker would be $25,000 worse off by 2055. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has also spoken about his concerns over the devastating floods in Nepal.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
After a moment of silence for Nepal, question time is up and running.
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time → run → Nepal
Up first is Angus Taylor, who asks Anthony Albanese about comments from the Property Council about the government’s taxes being “a ram raid on house prices”.
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taxes → ask → prices
Albanese says the budget made no changes for people who already negatively gear property, and that investors are “borrowing to build more new homes than ever before”, citing a Herald Sun report and ABS data:
Going forward, negative gearing and the 50% capital gains tax can still be used for investment properties, but only on new builds, so when people choose to invest in housing, they’re not investing in their future wealth and assets, they’re investing in the future wealth and assets of the nation.
Enforcement and compliance focus in tobacco war, Chalmers says
Nationals MP Llew O’Brien is demanding a yes/no answer on whether the government will rule out any reduction in the tobacco excise.
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government → say → excise
“The government’s priority is to deal with this as an enforcement issue, a compliance issue, a law enforcement issue,” Jim Chalmers says.
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Chalmers → deal → issue
In answer to objections from the opposition about the relevance of his answer, the speaker, Milton Dick, says he can’t force the treasurer to say yes or no.
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he → say → no
Jim Chalmers is quoting the shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson – who was just booted from the chamber for being rowdy – saying he would “like to slow the growth in the price of housing”.
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he → quote → housing
“Then he says he wrote a whole book about it,” Chalmers says.
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Chalmers → say → it
And we’re back to another demand the government join the Coalition to “crush the organised crime gangs”.
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government → ’re → gangs
The health minister, Mark Butler, talks about the opposition increasing the tobacco excise by far more than Labor did when they were in power.
“And they trousered every single dollar,” he says.
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he → talk → dollar
He says Queensland and South Australia have put extra enforcement powers in place and there’s a “completely different picture” to that playing out in NSW and Victoria.
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Queensland → say → NSW
Taylor says tobacco excise cut would ‘crush’ organised crime
Now to the tobacco excise wars, sparked by the explosion in illegal tobacco.
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cut → say → tobacco
Opposition leader Angus Taylor talks about the firebombing of small businesses and the need to “crush the organised crime gangs”.
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Taylor → talk → gangs
The opposition wants to cut the excise cut on cigarettes, so they would be more competitive on price.
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they → want → price
Leader of the house Tony Burke says “the last thing this parliament should ever do is outsource its health policy to organised crime”.
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parliament → say → crime
It has to be dealt with through law enforcement, he says, adding:
They know all too well that the exact impact of what they are proposing would be an increase in tobacco consumption in Australia.
Crossbench MP Bob Katter asks the treasurer about the cost-of-living crisis.
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Katter → have → crisis
He talks about the “appalling inequality” in the disposable income between those with children and “dinks” (double income, no kids).
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He → talk → children
Income splitting is the answer, he says, “while a birthing payment will help arrest Australia’s plunging birthrates”.
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payment → say → birthrates
Jim Chalmers says a similar proposal was costed and it found it would cost the nation more than $12bn over the forward estimates and would “primarily benefit higher wealth and income couples”:
[It would] cost the budget substantially, while denying the people it’s designed to help.
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it → say → people
Income splitting would create a tax transfer system that encourages economic dependence, reduces initiatives for women’s workforce participation [and] would risk unwinding some of the gains that we’ve made as a country.
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we → create → country
The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, says Sydney house prices are “plummeting so fast that they are on track for the biggest crash in 40 years” in a question to the government.
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they → say → government
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, says the government was transparent about the changes in the budget, with Treasury modelling suggesting there will be 75,000 new owner occupiers and a “small and temporary slowing in house price growth”.
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modelling → say → growth
House prices grew 400% in the past 25 years, she says:
[Wilson] is accurate in one sense that house prices are softening across the country … this is the fourth time that we have seen this occur in a decade in our country.
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this → grow → country
After a moment of silence for Nepal, question time is up and running.
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time → run → Nepal
Up first is Angus Taylor, who asks Anthony Albanese about comments from the Property Council about the government’s taxes being “a ram raid on house prices”.
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taxes → ask → prices
Albanese says the budget made no changes for people who already negatively gear property, and that investors are “borrowing to build more new homes than ever before”, citing a Herald Sun report and ABS data:
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investors → say → report
Going forward, negative gearing and the 50% capital gains tax can still be used for investment properties, but only on new builds, so when people choose to invest in housing, they’re not investing in their future wealth and assets, they’re investing in the future wealth and assets of the nation.
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they → go → nation
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is now talking about Nepal, describing the heartbreak of those families living with uncertainty about their missing loved ones.
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leader → talk → ones
He says he supports the government’s assistance with financial aid and personnel.
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he → say → aid
He says:
We hold on to hope as a nation, even as hope becomes harder to grasp with each passing day.
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hope → say → day
Albanese says he expressed condolences to Nepali PM
Albanese says he wants the Nepali people to know they do not carry this burden alone.
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they → say → burden
He says he spoke to the Nepali prime minister, Balendra Shah, and expressed his condolences on behalf of Australia.
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he → say → Australia
He says:
This is now very much a race against time.
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This → say → time
And at this challenging time, our government is engaged with Australia’s Nepali, Tibetan and Indian communities.
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government → challenge → communities
PM speaks of ‘horror’ in wake of Nepal-Tibet floods
Anthony Albanese is making a statement to the house about the Nepal-Tibet flood disaster.
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Albanese → speak → disaster
It was “breathtaking in its horror”, he says:
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he → say → horror
Thousands are still missing.
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Thousands → miss → ?
While our hearts are being lifted by the wonder of individuals being rescued alive many days later, the burden upon our sense of hope is growing exponentially.
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burden → lift → hope
One Nation plan would leave median full-time worker $25k worse off, peak body says
One Nation’s plan to turn the superannuation scheme “into an ATM” would make a median full-time worker $25,000 poorer, the Super Members Council says.
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Council → leave → ATM
The council’s chief executive officer, Misha Schubert, said it was “a reckless idea”:
This would belt battlers – not help them – by damaging their super and their retirements and driving up both inflation and interest rates which would make the cost-of-living pressures even worse, not better.
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pressures → say → living
We urge One Nation to ditch the idea.
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We → urge → idea
…and 53 more, not listed.
