TV interview with Minister Butler, Today Show – 5 May 2026

KARL STEFANOVIC, HOST: We're learning more this morning about the Jim Chalmers playbook. The Treasurer convinced he can get away with backflipping on property tax because, get this, he's broken other promises. To discuss, I'm joined by Health Minister Mark Butler, and Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson. Morning, guys. Nice to see you.
 
Mark, first up, whatever happened to my word is my bond? Obviously, you don't give a rat's about lying to the public.
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Karl, seven sleeps until Budget, and I'm sure they're all going to be dominated by fever dreams of Budget speculation. There's not long to wait to work out what the Budget is going to include, but what you can be confident of is it will meet the needs of the community as we gauge them right now. And I think one of the things we've been talking about pretty clearly and honestly is the generational challenge of young people getting into housing. That's why we've been rolling out five per cent deposits which have helped 300,000 or so young Australians break into the housing market.
 
STEFANOVIC: So, you’re not responding to Jim Chalmers lying to the public?
 
BUTLER: What I'm saying is people should have some patience, hold their breath and just wait until the Budget’s released next Tuesday. There's been a lot of speculation about housing tax policies, including on Tim's side of politics with Andrew Hastie saying it's something we should look at. We've only got a week to wait until we see what is in the Budget, both on tax, on spending, on saving and a range of other things, and then I think people will be in a position to assess what exactly we are doing rather than speculation.
 
STEFANOVIC: But he is saying you build trust by making the right decisions for the right reasons and explaining why you've come to a different view later on.
 
BUTLER: He was referring to the changes we made to the stage three tax cuts during the last term. They were hard changes to make but they were the right changes, and I think the community listened to the reasoning that we laid out there about why we thought rebalancing those tax cuts to help more people on low to middle incomes was the right thing to do. It was a hard thing to do, but I think the community accepted it was the right thing to do, given where the community was at.
 
STEFANOVIC: Tim, predictions today, rents will go up thousands. You've got the floor. Do not waste it.
 
TIM WILSON: Well, the reality is, before the last election, the Prime Minister was very clear that there was going to be no new increased taxes on property, on trusts, on negative gearing. They're clearly laying the groundwork not just for these changes but potentially going after the family home later. And we know the consequences. They say that this is going to help young Australians get into a home. We know full well that this is dishonest. Reports today show that rents could go up by 20 per cent. They can't tell you a single home that's going to become available for young Australians to buy their first home off the back of these promises.
 
And, you know, Mark Butler just talked about their tax cuts. The tax cuts they took to the last election, May last year, were already wiped out by Jim Chalmers' active inflation agenda by the end of last year in December. So long as they keep stoking inflation, they're going to continue to punish Australians.
 
STEFANOVIC: Alright, Mark, on that point, now we learn you're being economically responsible by throwing Aussies a multi-billion dollar cash splash earned income offset, it's called. That doesn't sound like responsible spending.
 
BUTLER: Again, I've seen some unsourced speculation in one newspaper about that this morning, Karl. That's a long way from being in the Budget. This budget will include tax cuts, a tax cut on 1 July, one on 1 July next year. Tim pointed to them. Of course, Angus Taylor wanted to repeal them. There's a standard deduction. We've cut fuel taxes, which people are benefiting from in the bowser.
 
STEFANOVIC: So is that part of the Budget or not?
 
BUTLER: The fuel tax cut will have to be acquitted in the Budget. It's $2.5 billion. It was the right way -
 
STEFANOVIC: No, the earned income offset. Is that part of the Budget?
 
BUTLER: I'm not going to respond to unsourced speculation in one newspaper this morning. What I do say is there are tax cuts that will be in this budget on 1 July, on 1 July next year. We took them to the last election. They're opposed by Tim Wilson's policy, but again, we thought we could find a way in that budget to deliver people some tax relief. That's what will be in the Budget.
 
STEFANOVIC: Okay, Tim, would you support an earned income offset?
 
WILSON: Well, yesterday I gave a speech, Karl, where I talked about how much purchasing power Australians have lost because of Jim Chalmers' active inflation agenda. An average couple with an average mortgage has lost $30,000 a year. And so the government's talking about giving a small sweetener when they've taken $30,000 a year of purchasing power off Australians. I think we need to completely scrap the Albanese Government's economic model, which is to stoke inflation, tax inflation, and then spend the inflation and keep the vicious cycle going.
 
STEFANOVIC: Alright, so that's a no from you?
 
WILSON: We can't, until I see the detail, but we know the consequences. The IMF has said if you go down this path, it will fuel inflation, it will give with one hand and then take even worse and harder with another.
 
STEFANOVIC: Alright Mark, what other promises can we expect that you're going to break?
 
BUTLER: Karl, as I said, the Budget's going to be framed around the needs of the community. The community's under real pressure right now. There have been pressures in the economy before the war in Iran and those conflicts over in the Middle East have just added to those pressures. We're responding to them where we responsibly can.
 
There's more savings in the Budget, as Jim said yesterday, than there are spend, so that means that we are trying to take some pressure out of an economy that was already heating pretty significantly. The Reserve Bank said that before the war in Iran. And we deliver relief and support for households when we think we responsibly can. But as I say, seven sleeps until the Budget, Karl, that's not long, and then we'll see all of the detail.
 
STEFANOVIC: Alright. Just can't wait for the six more fever dreams. Thanks so much, guys. Appreciate it as always.