Treasurer Jim Chalmers has sought to downplay Treasury advice urging the government to increase taxes, which was accidentally sent to journalists.
It also said the government’s housing target of 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029 is unachievable and should be revised.
According to the ABC, it received a heavily redacted copy of the incoming government brief under a freedom of information request, but a number of headings from the advice were left unedited.
Chalmers said the full nature of the advice he received wasn’t “adequately captured in the subheadings”, and that the government was already focusing on the topics raised.
“What’s happened here is a Treasury official has sent those documents in error, that sort of thing happens from time to time,” he said.
“I’m pretty relaxed about it, to be honest, because, of course, Treasury provides advice for incoming governments and no government typically goes into the detail of that.
“The other reason I’m pretty relaxed about it is we have already made it really clear that we will need to do more to meet our housing targets.
“We have already made it really clear that we will do more to make our economy more productive and more resilient.”
The publication of the advice comes as the government is facing widespread calls to overhaul the tax system, which is heavily reliant on personal income tax but at the same time failing to provide enough revenue to meet spending needs.
“The last election campaign was a frustrating one, with neither side offering much to grapple with a range of issues,” economist Chris Richardson said.
“So it’s marvellous to be able to peak at the independent advice Treasury gave to the returned government.
“None of that advice is surprising, but equally none of it is as familiar to Australians as it should be.
“Far better that these issues are raised and discussed – if we’re to get a better nation, we need a better conversation.”
Chalmers has repeatedly said tax reform will be on the agenda at the government’s productivity roundtable next month, although indicated a change to the GST isn’t on the way.
“Both the prime minister and I have made it pretty clear, when it comes to the GST we had a view about that historically and that view hasn’t changed,” he said.
“We have tried not to artificially limit the ideas of the states or others that will bring to the roundtable…
“We are interested in ways to simplify the tax system.”
