June 2, 2026
The tax reform bills are in second reading as Senate inquiries run alongside, with the NDIS bill's overlap with Community Affairs and what each Group B Estimates committee covers.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 (aph.gov.au) and its companion Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 (aph.gov.au) are in second reading debate today in the House. Both were referred last Thursday to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee (aph.gov.au) with submissions closing 9 June and the report due 22 June, the start of the next sitting period. This means the Senate's formal scrutiny of the CGT and negative gearing package will run concurrently with the House debate.
The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 (aph.gov.au) continues its second reading debate with crossbench proposed amendments unresolved. The Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee (aph.gov.au) has this referred for inquiry with a report due 16 June - the committee now running Estimates is the same one writing that report, which means today's departmental appearances will directly inform what senators put in writing about the bill. That's an unusual degree of procedural overlap.
In Budget Estimates today, a couple of additional points from yesterday's description of the schedule.
In addition to the parallel debate in the House, today is the committee's first formal opportunity to put the NDIS fiscal assumption on the record. The Budget's return-to-balance pathway rests on NDIS expenditure growth falling from a historical average of 21% a year to 3%, a $37.8 billion claim that senators from Group A's hearings last week were unable to get resolved on sensitivity analysis. The NDIA itself appears later in the week.
Adding to an already heavy list of matters that will get raised this week will be price gauging - on consumer goods including petrol, but also on manufacturing inputs.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations are up first - the inflation figure released last Thursday creates a direct tension: if real wages are being eroded faster than forecast, the consumption and revenue assumptions underpinning the Budget's surplus pathway come under pressure.
Also note, the committee has issued a directive for both the outgoing CFMEU Administrator, Mark Irving KC, and the incoming Administrator, Michael Crosby, to appear this week to provide evidence on the union's ongoing administration.
Veterans' Affairs will no doubt be questioned on their ability to deliver new policy measures to speed up implementation of findings from the now 18 month old final report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (defenceveteransuicide.royalcommission.gov.au) under the new fiscal budget allocations.
Until tomorrow.
— Mia
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