Labor’s Jim Chalmers, Coalition’s Angus Taylor face off in Treasurer’s debate

The Coalition is facing growing calls to explain how it will cost its election promises, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers turning the pressure on his opposition counterpart.

Mr Chalmers and shadow treasurer faced off in their final debate before the May 3election before a debate hosted by the Business Council of Australia on Wednesday.

They fielded questions from business executives on industrial relations laws, company taxes and help for small business.

Mr Chalmers took the opportunity to attack the lack of detail in the Coalition’s policies, including its nuclear power plans and how it would fund an $21bn increase in Defence spending.

The Treasurer spoke over the top of Mr Taylor at least half a dozen times, pressing on how the Coalition would pay for its nuclear reactors.

“You’ve had an hour and you haven’t come clean,” Mr Chalmers said.

Mr Taylor said the Coalition would claw back saving from $100bn in Labor’s spending, without hurting baseline services.

“Not in essential services, not in health, as you like to say, but in places that are not necessary at a time like now,” Mr Taylor said, pointing to Labor’s spending on transmission infrastructure.

The Coalition’s plans to save money by cutting the public service by 41,000 roles is also lacking in details.

But Mr Chalmers zeroed in on the Coalition’s plans to build a nuclear industry in Australia, questioning the cost of the proposal.

The Coalition contends building the seven plants would cost $120bn, while Labor has been pusing a figures of $600bn.

IMF raises global growth concerns

Mr Taylor began his introductory remarks noting the a owngraded forecast from the International Monetary Fund, released overnight, which raised Australia’s inflation forecast and lower projected GDP growth.

“We have seen the wrong priorities and the wrong decisions,” Mr Taylor said of the government’s economic strategy.

“Business investment is absolutely essential if we’re to get Australia back on track.”

Mr Chalmers defended his government’s economic strategy.

“We make our economy more resilient by rebuilding incomes, tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, rolling out ongoing cost-of-living relief, and we make our industries deeper and broader and harder as well,” the treasurer said.

“While we are cutting taxes for every taxpayer, Angus wants to legislate to increase taxes for every Australian taxpayer, including 1.5 million sole traders and small businesses

“He talks about wages and productivity but on his watch under the last government, productivity and wages were both weak.”

Small business support

A Coalition government would raise the threshold for the small business instant asset write-off and make it permanent, he said.

Labor did not support small business because “they can’t unionise it”, Mr Taylor said, which garnered a chuckle from the audience.

Mr Chalmers said Labor would extend the $20,000 instant write-off for another year, which was recently criticised as “underwhelming” by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said Labor would extend the $20,000 instant write-off for another year, which was recently criticised as “underwhelming” by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On small businesses, Mr Taylor said owner-operators needed a “full legal department” to work through Labor’s casual worker laws.

“We’ll go back to a simple definition of casual,” he said.

‘Cost and disruption’: IR concerns raised

Rio Tinto Australia chief executive Kellie Parker said some industrial relations laws were “just (causing) cost and disruption” and asked what would change.

Mr Chalmers repeatedly acknowledged “differences of opinion” held by the Labor government and members of the Business Council of Australia audience.

“Angus’ approach, depending on what audience he is in front of, he’ll either unwind our (industrial relations) changes or not,” Mr Chalmers said.

“We have been upfront about our changes and why.

“We have tried to be as consultative as we can, and we acknowledge and understand differences of opinion.”

On industrial relations, Mr Taylor was on the front foot and attacked Labor over its links to the CFMEU.

“The CFMEU, with deep links to the criminal underworld, a militant union, that’s holding our construction sector to ransom, needs to be deregistered,” Mr Taylor said.

“We’ll deregister it. Labor’s not prepared to do that. Because they rely too much on the CFMEU.

“They have relied on it for tens of millions of dollars of donations,” Mr Taylor said.

‘Year Nine economics’: Chalmers

In his opening statement, Mr Chalmers described the Coalition’s economic slogans as a “year nine economics” project.

“If Angus thinks there’s too much spending in the policy, he should tell us what he’s going to cut.

“Tell us where the cuts are coming from.”

Mr Chalmers claimed Coalition policy would make bracket creep worse.

“If you want to pay less tax, vote Labor. If you want to pay more tax, vote Coalition.”

Trump tariffs ‘rattled’ busines: BCA

Kicking off the event, BCA chief Bran Black said the business sector had been rattled by the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s recent tariff announcements, and faced growing issues domestically.

“Australia’s changing demographics present a great intergenerational challenge, with proportionately fewer workers, and proportionately more retirees living longer and with increasingly costly care needs,” he said.

“Meanwhile, our average productivity growth over the last decade was the lowest in six decades, and it’s declined 1.2 per cent over the past year.”

Mr Black said the next treasurer would need to work out how to deliver “more outputs with the same or less inputs”.

“It’s critical because productivity growth and real wages growth is symbiotic, and that makes the linkage between productivity growth and our collective national prosperity iron-clad.”