Libs still haven't learnt to negotiate

[Redneck]

The Libs havent learnt a thing from Abbotts days, they assume they are going to wedge Labor by just presenting their legislation without any discussion...tell them  to go fvkkk themselves Labor


Labor accuses Liberals of snub on super despite Malcolm Turnbull's 'bipartisan' budget approach

Labor has questioned Malcolm Turnbull's call to "reach across the aisle" and repair the federal budget, saying the government has ignored requests for briefings on the proposed $6 billion in superannuation changes.

In a speech in Melbourne on Wednesday, Mr Turnbull will press Labor to pass an omnibus bill when Parliament returns that contains about $6.5 billion in other savings he says that Labor indicated during the election campaign it did, or could, support.


The PM is set to reveal what his focus will be during the 45th Parliament. Chief political reporter James Massola has more.

The Prime Minister argues that "Labor must be prepared to bring an open mind and some fiscal rationality to any discussions".

But Fairfax Media can reveal shadow financial services minister Katy Gallagher asked Minister for Revenue Kelly O'Dwyer three weeks ago, on July 27, for a briefing on the super changes.

Ms Gallagher wrote that following her appointment to the portfolio after the election, "I would like to request a briefing from your office in relation to the government's proposals around reforms to the superannuation system".

"I would appreciate if your office could facilitate the briefing as soon as possible."

The request has fallen on deaf ears, with neither Ms Gallagher nor her office having had a response from the minister's office about the proposed changes, which have riled the Coalition party room and prompted vocal complaints from Coalition supporters.

The changes include a $1.6 million cap on the amount that can be put into a tax free retirement account, dropping the annual limit of contributions taxed at the concessional rate of 15 per cent from $30,000 to $25,000 and a controversial $500,000 lifetime cap on non-concessional contributions, which has been backdated to 2007.

The net improvement to the budget bottom line from the $6 billion package is about $3 billion and the opposition actually banked the savings from the package during the election campaign, as many of the proposed changes are similar to Labor proposals so a deal over the measures is still in prospect, subject to some tweaks.

Asked whether Labor would still support the $6.5 billion in savings it had backed during the election, treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said the opposition had not yet had any discussions with the government.

" The Prime Minister pretends he is reaching out to the Labor party in some bipartisan fashion in the national interest in a very partisan speech  ... if this was a legitimate attempt [to work in a bipartisan fashion] you would think that Malcolm Turnbull or Scott Morrison would have picked up the phone," he told ABC radio.

But in a sign Labor could back at least some of the $6.5 billion in savings, Mr Bowen said "of course our approach [to those savings] will reflect what we took in the election, but it will be what we took, not what Malcolm Turnbull or Scott Morrison say we took".

"This is a stunt by Malcolm Turnbull to distract from his own internal problems ...  what we need to see is the legislation … which could assist its passage through the Parliament."

Treasurer Scott Morrison – who hailed ratings agency Moody's decision to affirm Australia's AAA credit rating with a stable outlook on Wednesday – said he had had very productive discussions with the Senate crossbench teams, led respectively by Nick Xenophon and Pauline Hanson, on budget repair.

"There is $6.5 billion of measures they had in their forward estimates that they are honour bound to pass," he said.

"Bill Shorten says he wants to be working together. [The] test of that will be in the Parliament and at the moment, he seems intent on playing political games."



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