From the archive: Noel Whittaker's assessment of the May 2026 Budget, revisited because the changes he picked apart are still ahead of us.
Most Budget coverage lasts a news cycle. This one deserves a second look, because the changes Noel Whittaker examined don't start until 1 July 2027. If you're in your 40s or 50s, that's time to plan rather than react.
His central complaint is that the package lands hardest on the people with the least room to move. He works through the case of Jenny, a 67-year-old renter on the age pension who takes a job paying $45,000. She receives the pension plus rent assistance, but once she earns more than $218 a fortnight she loses 50 cents of pension for every extra dollar, and she pays income tax on top. Between the two, $24,296 disappears — an effective marginal tax rate of 54%.
Set that against a couple with just over $1 million in assets who qualify for even a dollar of income support. They keep the full capital gains tax (CGT) discount of 50%, and they can earn $90,000 a year from work without losing a cent of pension.
The CGT change itself matters to anyone holding shares or an investment property. From 1 July 2027 the 50% discount gives way to indexation. Assets you already own get a transitional rule: their value on 30 June 2027 becomes a new cost base, and indexation applies only to the gain after that date. The point isn't that indexation is wrong — it's that two systems running side by side is complicated, and 30 June 2027 is now a date worth writing down.
"The system protects the wealthy and punishes the poor. This Budget just made it worse."
Read the full article: Noel Whittaker's take on the budget — Noel Whittaker, Firstlinks, 20 May 2026.
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