QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:30): Thank you to the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The issue he raises, which was the subject of a stunt from those opposite earlier today— Opposition members interjecting— Dr CHALMERS: I take the interjections. The reason it's a stunt—what they did earlier in the parliament—is that they said there wasn't enough consultation, and now they're saying there's too much consultation.

That exposes the absurdity of the stunt that they tried to put on earlier on in the parliament today. Is it any wonder that they're doing worse under this leader of the opposition than they were doing under Sussan Ley if that's the best that they can do? They said there wasn't enough consultation.

Now they say there is too much consultation. The government has been very clear that we will address this issue in the legislation which is currently out for consultation. It wasn't that long ago that they were saying consultation was important.

Now they're saying consultation is not important. The draft legislation that we have released will ensure a property will keep access to negative gearing if it was owned on budget night or treated as a new build if the property was acquired from a spouse through an inheritance or a relationship breakdown or where someone inherits an asset in which they had an ownership share.

We've been very clear about that. That's what the draft legislation which is out for consultation right now is all about. The final point is this: it's not unusual for tax reform of this magnitude to be legislated in stages.

That's what the government is doing. These changes don't come into being until 1 July next year, and we are working, in a considered and methodical way, through subsequent pieces of legislation to get the implementation details right. That requires consultation—something that those opposite used to call for.