Federal budget 2026 live updates: Jim Chalmers delivers budget announcement and speech in parliament – latest news | Australian budget 2026

Key events

What are the changes to negative gearing, CGT and trusts?

From July next year, negative gearing for residential properties will be limited to new builds, but anyone who has bought an investment property before 7.30pm AEST tonight (12 May) will be exempt from the changes.

On 1 July next year, the capital gains tax discount will also be replaced with cost base indexation and a minimum 30% tax rate.

If you’re buying a new property you’ll still get some negative gearing tax incentives, and you’ll be able to choose between cost base indexation or the 50% CGT discount.

The government says the tax changes will help about 75,000 Australians (and particularly young Australians) own a home.

Jim Chalmers did a stop in the Guardian bureau during the lockup and said:

double quotation markA lesser government would have used the developments overseas as an excuse to do less, and what we’ve tried to do is accelerate the reform and not just absorb the shock.

There are also big changes coming for discretionary trusts from July 2028, which will also incur a minimum 30% tax rate. While that won’t necessarily have an impact on house prices or help young people get into the market, it will help to stop wealthy families over-leveraging the tax system.

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$250 tax offset for working Australians

Every working Australian will receive a $250 tax offset each year, ongoing and automatically in your tax return from the second half of next year, Jim Chalmers says.

This might have been the final big announcement that the government was hoping to keep under wraps – but it was leaked to the media last week.

The tax offset will cost the budget $6.4bn, and is the “biggest cost-of-living measure in this budget”, Chalmers says:

double quotation markThis offset is targeted to workers and represents the most meaningful, permanent increase to the effective tax-free threshold since Labor last increased it more than a decade ago.

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The war has exposed weaknesses and intensified longstanding domestic challenges, Chalmers says

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has begun his fifth budget address and is focusing on the impact of the war in the Middle East.

The conflict – which has had a huge impact across the globe – has increased inflation after the government was hoping the pressure was over.

Chalmers says the war has been pushing up prices, pushing down growth, and punishing Australians.

double quotation markThis is the most important and ambitious budget in decades. Important because the world is throwing a lot at us and this Budget is about helping Australia deal with those challenges, and ambitious because we have so much going for us, and this Budget is about Australia seizing those opportunities.

It has exposed weaknesses in the global economy and intensified longstanding challenges here at home.

We didn’t decide when this war began and have no control over when it will properly end. But how we respond is up to us.

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Jim Chalmers delivers 2026 federal budget in parliament

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has stood to deliver the budget in the House of Representatives.

He says this is the most “important and ambitious budget in decades”.

double quotation markImportant, because the world is throwing a lot of challenges at us … and ambitious, because we have so much going for us.

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Updated at 10.34 BST

Welcome to budget night

Krishani Dhanji

Welcome to our budget night coverage. I’m Krishani Dhanji, here to take you through all the numbers and the big announcements.

The vibe is “no big surprises” but there are some big reforms to tackle intergenerational inequality (the words we’ve been hearing from the PM and treasurer for months).

The worst-kept secret in Canberra has now become official: the government has abolished negative gearing for new investors, cut the capital gains tax discount and introduced a 30% minimum tax rate for trusts. But some negative gearing and CGT benefits will be available for new dwellings. Despite the lack of surprise – with media reports on the reforms spanning weeks – this is undoubtedly bold reform.

Against the backdrop of global uncertainty and war in the Middle East, the budget forecasts inflation will tick up to 5% by the middle of this year – but worst-case scenarios by the Treasury predict it rising even higher, to 7%, by the end of the year if oil prices drastically increase.

Jim Chalmers, who has just begun speaking on the floor of the house, will say that as the world is “throwing a lot at us”, this is the “most important and ambitious budget in decades”.

Stick with us – let’s get straight into it!

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Updated at 10.33 BST

Meanwhile, as political reporter, Josh Butler, notes, the Labor government decided to release its contentious, much-delayed response to Peta Murphy’s report on gambling on one of the biggest political news days of the year.

They dropped it while the nation’s federal political journalists were trapped in budget lockup. Which is convenient, if they were trying to bury the report.

Read his analysis here:

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Caitlin Cassidy

Journalists await their release from the budget lockup

To those new to budget night, journalists lucky enough to gain access to the hundreds of papers today will remain in lock up until 7.30pm AEST, when they are released from their six hours of captivity and the treasurer gives his budget speech.

As Jim Chalmer’s speech airs live, the stories they’ve spent today diligently working on – without mobile or internet access – are also released from embargo. Until then, many of the announcements have already been made, which you can read about in our handy explainer.

This morning, Chalmers conceded the housing market and tax system is “not working for a lot of Australians”, which he vowed would be addressed in the Labor government’s fifth budget.

But whether changing tax rules for investors, as Labor have flagged, will shrink housing supply or raise rents remains to be seen.

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Updated at 10.15 BST

I will now hand the live blog to Krishani Dhanji as we get ready for the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, to begin delivering his budget speech at 7.30pm AEST.

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Sarah Collard

Fortescue ordered to pay $150m in compensation to traditional owners

Mining company Fortescue has been ordered to pay $150m in compensation to traditional owners over cultural losses caused by the multi-billion dollar Solomon Hub iron ore mine – the largest compensation payout in native title history.

The mine, which has extracted millions of tonnes of iron ore and generated an estimated $80bn in revenue for Fortescue since operations began in 2013, was approved by the Western Australian government without the consent of the Yindjibarndi traditional owners.

Read more:

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Updated at 10.07 BST

Caitlin Cassidy

‘No agency’ and ‘no authenticity’ in halls of parliament, Fatima Payman says

The independent senator for Western Australia is also appearing at the Democracy in Colour webinar on racism. She says her time in politics has been a “tough journey” being the only hijab-wearing parliamentarian.

She says she realised the “tokenism that exists” in the halls of parliament upon being elected under a Labor ticket.

double quotation markThere is no authenticity, there is no agency, and the social license that’s given to certain politicians within that space to say what they want without realising the ramifications and implications it will have … really give the green light to the least adjusted Australians out there to use it.

Payman says she hadn’t received the levels of racism and Islamophobia as she did when crossing the floor against the Labor party, and reiterates her calls, alongside other colleagues of colour, for anti-racism training to be mandatory for politicians.

double quotation markSenator Lidia Thorpe, Mehreen Faruqi and I have been quite vocal lately … about the death threats we’ve been receiving, the lack of understanding the AFP originally showed.

She also highlights One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s stunt to enter parliament with a burqa, as she did back in 2017, as “just horrendous”.

double quotation markTo see the lack of leadership from the government … gave Pauline Hanson the oxygen she was craving for.

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Updated at 09.43 BST

Migrants ‘blamed for everything’ in Australia, race discrimination commissioner says

The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman says migrants are being “blamed for everything” in Australia in the absence of facing more “courageous and difficult solutions” to the cost of living and housing crisis.

Appearing at a Democracy in Colour session titled Racism out of Politics on Tuesday evening, he says Australia has a “structural problem” with racism, pointing to a recent survey which found two-thirds of migrant workers reported being exploited, some of them severely so.

double quotation markMigrants and the targeting of migrants is one example of that … That happens in part because they are not white. Because they are of different racial backgrounds and they’re dehumanised …

Migrants are being blamed for everything, from not being able to buy a house, to the cost of milk going up, to being stuck in traffic. And at the same time … they’re being exploited, so we can all enjoy the lifestyles that we have.

That blaming of migrants is just avoiding coming up with more courageous and difficult solutions, like tax reform, housing policy reform … All of this is aided and abetted by misinformation online … because racism is profitable for social media platforms.

He adds political rhetoric contributes to this as well, including racism parliamentarians have been subjected to themselves.

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Updated at 09.24 BST

Government timing on Murphy report response ‘disappointing’, Costello says

The leading advocate for gambling reform, Tim Costello, says it is “very disappointing” for the government to release its response to the Peta Murphy report on gambling reform when most senior journalists are in budget lockup, when the government is only tackling four of the 31 recommendations in the report.

He told the ABC there will still be gambling ads in family-friendly shows like MasterChef and Lego Masters.

double quotation markReducing the saturation of ads, reducing it from eight ads an hour to three ads and our, would we say we cigarette ads down to just three and our job done?

He said it was disturbing that 600,000 12-to-17-year olds in Australia gambled last year, which was more than playing basketball and soccer combined.

He said the prime minister saying the balance is right “is embarrassing” as no one was stopping adults having a punt.

Costello said children are not being protected “in the interests of foreign multinational sports betting companies”.

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Updated at 09.23 BST

Sian Cain

Abbie Chatfield apologises for 2025 video after partner refused re-entry to US

Australian musician Keli Holiday was forced to cut short a US tour after officials stopped him from re-entering the country, with his partner, Abbie Chatfield, posting a lengthy apology about a joke she made about violent revolution almost a year ago.

On Friday, Holiday claimed he tried to return to the US for a show in New York, but was “detained” at the border “despite having the proper visa documentation”.

A spokesperson for Holiday stated that he was not given a reason by US authorities about why his visa had been cancelled and that this was still the case.

On Tuesday Chatfield shared a 10-minute long apology about a video she made in 2025, saying it had “come back to haunt me” and that Holiday had not even been aware of it.

In the 2025 video, Chatfield joked about Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, and the romantic attention he had subsequently received from women.

In the video Chatfield joked that “incels” should “start a revolution” if they wanted to “get pussy” like Mangione.

On Tuesday, Chatfield said the joke had been subsequently “warped” by media outlets who she said had framed her joke as a call for political violence against US president Donald Trump.

double quotation markPeople have said that I called for the assassination of Trump. I do not want that to happen. I want to be clear. I do not believe political assassinations are positive for anybody.

I disagree with Trump’s policy, his views, all these things, but I never said his name in that video, I never said it was about him. I never called for the assassination of him. This was a punchline that was meant to be about incels and the bizarre reaction to Luigi Mangione.

Chatfield did not expressly link her apology with the entry refusal.

Guardian Australia has sought clarification if Chatfield’s social media activity was a factor in the decision.

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Updated at 09.07 BST

Price’s plea to end ‘racism of low expectations’

Indigenous senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says Australia can no longer “hide behind race” as she issued an emotional plea for change after the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby.

With tears welling in her eyes and her voice breaking, the NT senator paid tribute to her five-year-old niece, who was found dead in scrubland near Alice Springs on 30 April.

Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been charged with her murder and has yet to enter a plea.

The Liberal senator on Tuesday said: “We cannot continue hiding behind race”.

double quotation markWe cannot continue pretending that lowering expectations for Aboriginal children is compassion.

It’s not compassion, it’s neglect. It’s the racism of low expectations.

Children deserve safety before ideology. Most of all, we need courage.

The senator’s plea for action contrasted with that of outspoken independent senator Lidia Thorpe, who said the girl’s family did not want her death to be politicised.

Price said she didn’t want parliament to offer its condolences while “refusing to confront the conditions that made those condolences necessary in the first place”.

“I want this parliament to put aside our political differences and stand up for what’s right for our children,” she said.

–AAP

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Updated at 08.35 BST

Caitlin Cassidy

Eight in 10 Jewish Australian women have been exposed to antisemitism since 7 October 2023, survey finds

About 80% of Jewish Australian women say that they or an immediate family member has experienced antisemitism since 7 October 2023, a national survey has found, and one in five have been exposed to physical violence or verbal abuse.

The survey, released by the National Council of Jewish Women Australia (NCJWA) as the royal commission into antisemitism hears testimony from witnesses, was conducted over eight months using the International Holocaust Remembrance (IHRA) definition and heard from 668 women.

It found in addition to the lived experience of Jew hatred, around half the women surveyed had made changes to their daily lives because of vilification they had faced, including direct threats, antisemitic tropes and doxing and 43% were accused of being modern-day Nazis.

One survey participant said they had received death threats by phone and online, while others said their children had been bullied at school, including facing physical violence and antisemitic slurs. A survivor of the Chanukah terror attack said a post they made online about their experience “attracted cruelty and racism”.

President of the NCJWA, Lynda Ben-Menashe, said antisemitism affecting Jewish Australian women was “widespread”.

double quotation markIt is incredibly sad to find that so many Jewish Australian women are thinking about leaving this place which once was our haven … Jews are the canary in the mine of any population: throughout history we’ve seen that when Jewish citizens are targeted it’s a sign that social cohesion is fraying and fractured.

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Updated at 08.40 BST

Union proposes package to WiseTech for AI job cuts

Last week, Guardian Australia reported that staff at the ASX-listed software company WiseTech had been waiting several months to learn if they are among the 2,000 of 7,000 staff to be cut from the company as a result of AI advancements.

The union representing the sector, Professionals Australia, has told Guardian Australia on Tuesday that it has put a redundancy package to WiseTech management since our report.

Professionals Australia director, Paul Inglis said:

double quotation markProfessionals Australia has put forward a redundancy package that reflects the scale of this decision, including enhanced redundancy payments, additional pay based on years of service, protection of share and equity entitlements, waiver of clawback obligations and access to outplacement and retraining support.

He said employees had “serious doubts” on whether AI systems are capable of reliably performing the full scope of work undertaken by employees whose roles are being cut

double quotation markWorkers are concerned that experience, judgement, accountability, and deep technical knowledge are being undervalued in decisions driven by short-term cost reduction and AI hype.

We are also increasingly concerned about the psychosocial health and safety impacts of a redundancy process that has now stretched across several months with ongoing uncertainty for employees.

Workers have described significant stress, anxiety and fear about their future, their workloads and whether they will still have jobs from week to week.

He said there are real human consequences when workers are left in limbo.

double quotation markAustralian technology professionals helped build this company and continue to underpin its success to this day and they deserve to be treated with the utmost respect.

WiseTech was approached for comment.

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Updated at 08.04 BST

Liberal deputy leader suggests party could vote against CGT changes

Jane Hume has indicated the party could vote down expected changes to negative gearing and capital gains taxes in tonight’s budget.

Hume told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that the party’s instinct “will always be to vote against higher taxes”.

double quotation markHigher taxes mean you get less of something, we want to see more houses, not fewer.

We instinctively will say if this is just a tax grab, a cash grab, because the Labor government cash-strapped, well, that is not something we can support.

Asked if a future Coalition government would repeal it, Hume said we would have to wait and see for opposition leader Angus Taylor’s budget reply speech on Thursday night.

double quotation markWe want to see more productivity injected into the economy so that we can grow the economy and everybody can benefit.

This idea of pitting one group, one demographic, against other demographic, we don’t think that is a recipe for not just economic growth, but a better society.

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Updated at 08.31 BST