Senator Nampijinpa Price talks with Chris Kenny, Sky News

29 June 2026

Subjects: Capital Gains Tax Changes; Small Business; “Widow’s Tax”; Cost of Living.

E&OE……………

CHRIS KENNY:

Let's head back down to Canberra and catch up with the Shadow Small Business Minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Good to talk to you again, Jacinta. Jim Chalmers seems to think that small businesses and larger businesses are going to be pretty happy with his budget in the end. Now he's got it through, most of it through Parliament. What's your reading from the business world? 

SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:

Oh, far from it, Chris. Far from it. You know, having these conversations with small businesses, they're beside themselves around the country. I mean, this government has rushed through this legislation, having done a dirty deal with the Greens to do so, but they've put the cart, you know, before the horse, because now that they're suggesting that they are going to go back and provide amendments to this legislation. But the problem is that the damage is already done. I mean, when the question was put to Jim Chalmers over the weekend, who was going to be worse off, what businesses are going to be worse off, and he can't give a direct answer. I put the same question to the minister representing him, Senator Wong, in the Senate chamber this afternoon at Question Time, what businesses are going to be worse off, what businesses are going to pay higher tax. They can't answer these questions. They don't even understand the dire consequences of these taxes, they're calling them reforms, but we know that they're increased taxes; they are not reforms. And these are the biggest changes to tax that have been legislated within a generation. Businesses now, those in industry, are telling us that basically the carve-outs are too narrow, they're too complex. And what is happening is it's discouraging investment and it's discouraging growth. And businesses, small businesses are suffering. Why would they want to invest in themselves, in apprentices, when there's so much uncertainty? And why will you trust this government and this treasurer when they can't even answer a simple question like who's going to pay more tax and who is going to be affected by this? 

CHRIS KENNY:

You picked up one of my pet hates in this debate. Too many in the media regurgitate it. Labor call these reforms. They're not reforms. Not all change is reform. These are tax increases. An increasing tax on the economy is not a reform. It's regressive. It always is. If you want small business to thrive, you want to lower the tax burden. Now, the other change here is that this so-called widow's tax has been exposed. Jim Chalmers has been forced to admit that, yes, people who lose a partner and therefore have sole rights over a property or whatever will lose tax, will pay more tax effectively, but he says, “Don't worry, we're going to fix it now with new legislation.” This goes to your point of rushing it through. Shouldn't you get rid of all these unintended consequences before you pass the laws? 

SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:

Precisely. I mean, before you introduce any legislation, you're supposed to understand what the impacts will be. And clearly, they have not done the work that's supposed to have happened before you introduce any form of legislation to understand who is going to be negatively impacted with this. And as we've seen, this government understood before they passed it last week, they understood the consequences of creating this widow's tax, which affects people during bereavement, but also in the situation of divorce as well. So, you know, the change of ownership in terms of a property, it won't be grandfathered in terms of those homes that are going to be grandfathered as investment properties — they will have to pay. Why should those going through bereavements, those that are gone through a difficult situation in their family lives, which is divorce, why should they then be impacted by more tax on their lives. And you know what? This government doesn't give a damn; they don't care about these people otherwise they would have considered this before passing it because they had knowledge of it before they passed it. Instead of again putting the cart before the horse and now saying that they're going to change those amendments. Well, we've got amendments for them and they need to support our amendments this week because if they don't support those amendments, then they simply once more do not care for the Australian people. But this is blatant. Again, they will tax everybody and anything because they keep spending money. We're hurtling toward one trillion in debt, which we'll see before the end of the year and so they're finding any way that they can possibly put their hand in the pockets of Australians even during the toughest times in their lives to get more money to spend, your money, Australians’ money. 

CHRIS KENNY: 

Spot on Jacinta. Just let me end on some good news. Your colleague Dan Tehan gut punched me earlier pointing out that the Crows lost the Showdown. But I seem to recall that your Collingwood Magpies played his Richmond Tigers on the weekend. How did you go? I think you took care of them, didn't you? 

SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:

Well, of course. Of course.  

CHRIS KENNY:

It's the first time I've ever been pleased to hear about a Collingwood win. Thanks for joining us, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the Shadow Small Business Minister. And although she hails from Alice Springs, she's a Pies fan. I hope that hasn't cost her any votes. 

[ENDS]