Apr 30, 2026 · 26 min · 18 segments
With the 2026 federal budget just two weeks away, Grattan Institute CEO Dr. Aruna Sathanapally joins Deputy Program Director of Energy and Climate Change Hamish McKenzie to unpack what could be one of…
The summit was broadly about economic reform or, you know, for those who are, who are really into the specific terms, productivity reform.
The first two days were about a whole suite of measures, things the government can do without touching the tax system, but day three was about tax and it was about spending.
So day three of the summit was really the day to grapple with some of the budget issues.
There's a, a sort of storied history of tax reform being impossible to do in Australia, but really, the momentum had built, the expectations had built, and lo and behold, we had a whole day at this three-day summit that was focused on tax and spending, and particularly on tax.
And so I was invited to give an opening presentation to the group of people, uh, who were assembled in the cabinet room about where the great need was for tax reform in Australia, what the opportunities were.
And in that speech, I canvassed a whole range of things, but the particular theme that I emphasized was that our tax system represents a pretty wretched intergenerational bargain and is well out of balance in terms of the type of world we're moving into.
And so the, the thing I said to the group was that we really need a tax system that adapts to the times we live in.
And some of the things that, you know, we discussed in the course of that session weren't actually a matter of heated contest between people.
You know, there were, there were some very affluent people in the room who could also see the really strong case that was building for a, a tax system that better adapted to our future, but it was also fundamentally fairer to younger people and to working people.
The summit was broadly about economic reform or, you know, for those who are, who are really into the specific terms, productivity reform.
The first two days were about a whole suite of measures, things the government can do without touching the tax system, but day three was about tax and it was about spending.
So day three of the summit was really the day to grapple with some of the budget issues.
There's a, a sort of storied history of tax reform being impossible to do in Australia, but really, the momentum had built, the expectations had built, and lo and behold, we had a whole day at this three-day summit that was focused on tax and spending, and particularly on tax.
And so I was invited to give an opening presentation to the group of people, uh, who were assembled in the cabinet room about where the great need was for tax reform in Australia, what the opportunities were.
And in that speech, I canvassed a whole range of things, but the particular theme that I emphasized was that our tax system represents a pretty wretched intergenerational bargain and is well out of balance in terms of the type of world we're moving into.
And so the, the thing I said to the group was that we really need a tax system that adapts to the times we live in.
And some of the things that, you know, we discussed in the course of that session weren't actually a matter of heated contest between people.
You know, there were, there were some very affluent people in the room who could also see the really strong case that was building for a, a tax system that better adapted to our future, but it was also fundamentally fairer to younger people and to working people.
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