Independent MP Allegra Spender released the first in a series of tax white papers at the National Press Club on Wednesday, calling for cuts to wage taxes that would lower the lowest marginal rate to 13 per cent and reduce other marginal rates by 2. 5 percentage points. allegra spender says those cuts should be funded by higher taxes on investment and asset income, with detailed measures targeting capital gains, negative gearing and superannuation.
Allegra Spender outlines tax changes
Spender’s white paper confirms a concrete package: cut the lowest marginal tax rate on wages to 13 per cent and trim all other marginal rates by 2. 5 percentage points, while reducing the capital gains tax discount from 50 per cent to 30 per cent. The pattern suggests she intends to tilt taxation toward labour rather than assets, using explicit percentage changes to show how redistribution would be delivered.
National Press Club address
Ms Spender presented the first white paper at the National Press Club on Wednesday and framed the case around intergenerational equity and productivity. She argued younger workers are increasingly relied upon to bear a larger share of the tax burden as the population ages and that house-price gains have left asset earners paying a smaller proportion of tax. That framing links demographic pressure and property market outcomes to the specific reforms she proposes.
Cambridge background and measures
A former consultant with an economics degree from Cambridge, Ms Spender laid out a set of financing measures: reduce the capital gains tax discount from 50 per cent to 30 per cent, introduce a minimum tax rate of 27. 5 per cent on investment income, pare back negative gearing and align superannuation earnings thresholds with income tax thresholds. allegra spender’s list of changes ties each wage-side cut to corresponding revenue measures aimed at wealthier asset holders.
Her paper states the current tax arrangements result in the same amount of income being taxed at different rates depending on whether it is earned through wages, capital gains, superannuation or a family trust, and she says that produces negative consequences for the social compact that promises hard work can deliver a decent life. The figures point to an explicit equity argument: lower wage taxation paired with higher asset taxation would shift the distribution of effective tax burdens across income sources.
The first white paper is the confirmed development; what it sets in motion is a sequence of further papers in the same series but no dates for those follow-ups are provided. Which remaining white papers will be released and when the rest of the series will appear is the specific open question left by this announcement.
