iscoverIn the aftermath of the highly anticipated Economic Reform Roundtable last month, the conversation on tax reform is set to be “kept alive” by independent MP Allegra Spender.
‘Better nation, better conversation’: Spender, Richardson’s take on tax reform
17 September 2025
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10 minute read
Federal member for Wentworth Allegra Spender is driving hard for the tax reform conversation to stay alive in parliament to ensure meaningful steps towards change are made.
At her Politics in the Pub event in Sydney’s east on Monday night (15 September), Spender reiterated her passion to remain a catalyst for meaningful and holistic tax reform that would benefit the prosperity and fairness of Australia.
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Spender said that following the Economic Reform Roundtable in August, which she attended, there had been little action and conversation in terms of moving towards legislative change.
Speaking to those in attendance, Spender said: “We have to put tax on the table. You pushed me to push tax. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, I think it’s going to be really hard to get it on the table.”
“There is a hint of movement at the station and I am, and I will, try to keep that alive. I am holding the door open for tax reform conversation. I am putting pressure on the government and the opposition to play that game.”
Spender noted her main driver for tax reform was re-establishing an Australia where “aspiration and hard work” paid off and “where in hard times people don’t fall through the cracks”.
Spender made the effort to point out that in the current economy, it was hard to survive and thrive if from a family that didn’t have sufficient wealth, as well as it being hard to make ends meet and envision a bright future when it simply could not be afforded.
This perspective was heavily featured in her Tax Green Paper released in November last year, which said younger Australians were disadvantaged by the tax system.
“Younger Australians are being left behind, unable to grow their financial security in line with other generations and increasingly locked out of housing that is affordable. This creates a society of haves and have-nots, where your family wealth, and access to the Bank of Mum and Dad, is essential to get ahead,” the paper said.
“Our tax system places undue burdens on the earned income of labour which is the major source of income and wealth for young Australians. It places barriers on home ownership. And without reform, the burden on labour income is only going to worsen, through bracket creep, an ageing population and the relative degradation of other sources of tax revenue.”
To aid progress towards tax reform, Spender proposed various budget-neutral tactics that would be effective in sparking change, including lower income taxes, rebalancing tax settings in favour of home ownership, incentivising innovation and business investment, and rebalancing revenue base and tax settings to support energy transition and the implementation of a tax reform commission.
An economist’s view
Joining Spender on the panel at the Politics in the Pub event was economist Chris Richardson, who said Australia had long had better conversations around economics and productivity than others.
According to Richardson, there were holes in Australia’s tax system that needed to be filled, and there were “dumb things” that collectively needed to be avoided, rethought and restructured.
Richardson said to attendees that in the past tax reform had been hard, yet tax reform was harder now because spending had increased.
“The tax system needs to be in search of two things. Prosperity and fairness. Australia has been very successful on these fronts, but the challenges are building,” he said.
“Dumb things we need to stop is viewing tax as a fairness lever – it’s not. It’s a prosperity lever. We need to look at how we tax gas, and we need to look at the tax on cigarettes.”
When asked more about his views on the tax system and the “dumb things” that needed to be stopped, Richardson said cigarettes were an area that he couldn’t quite believe made such an impact and a hole within the system.
This was attributed to the fact that, as the tax on cigarettes was increased to stop people from buying them, the enforcement didn’t increase at the same rate, therefore creating space and opportunity for illicit tobacco and the black market to thrive.
“We created a stunning opportunity for the black market and the black market is having an absolute field day. That is one of the spectacularly stupid things I have seen in tax in my time,” he said.
A point made by Spender, which was supported by Richardson at the event, was that they envisioned a tax system that was fair for everyone, with both having echoed that they wanted a system that inspired people to drive for the promotion and investment in themselves, rather than fearing it based on bracket creep.
“We have a tax system that drives people into property or finance. And those two things won’t be what drives Australia forward,” Spender said.
“I want a tax system that works for everyone – prince or pauper. Inequality in our tax system will, I believe, lead to social dislocation.”
Richardson noted that despite much room for improvement within the tax system, it was important to “not underestimate how lucky the lucky country has been.”
“Our system is starting to sink under the cement of no change and that will get really ugly. You can’t have a better nation without a better conversation.”
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