With the election over, it’s now time for the Government to get down to the business of executing their policies.

We understand the first order of business will be the removal of 20% of HECS debt at the cost of $16 billion.

We also understand the Division 296 tax of superannuation earnings for those with a balance above $3 million from 1 July 2025 will be reintroduced. As a reminder, the tax limits the tax concessions available for high-balance individuals. The $3 million threshold is not indexed and is applied to unrealised earnings, which is a first for the Tax Act as unrealised gains have never before been assessed. The tax is levied on the individual and can be paid from the fund. For those with significant static property assets, such as farmers with low levels of liquidity, this tax could prove problematic. We will watch this space with interest.

Further to the spending agenda, 100,000 new homes are to be built for first-home buyers at a cost of $10 billion, which is expected to take 8 years. The extension of childcare to a minimum of three days for families with a household income of $533,000 is expected to be legislated.

Power rebates at $175 per household are to be extended to assist with the cost of living measures, plus a pay rise for 60,000 aged care workers and a real wage increase for some 3 million other workers. These are significant spending pledges without the corresponding revenue increases, meaning budgeted and off-budget expenditures will balloon forward for the foreseeable future without structural changes.

What does this mean? Tax reform will certainly be on the back burner given that we have a declining worker population and that much of our revenue sources are derived from personal income tax and company tax.

Given that the Government has a clear majority and possibly two terms, we hope to see some reforms that strategically position us to compete going forward and aid the rebuilding of Australian companies and their competitiveness.

The Australian Stock Exchange of listed companies is now at the level it was in 2006. In other words, it has shrunk considerably.

Time to get back and down to business.