Former prime minister Paul Keating is facing criticism from female business founders, who claim his support for a controversial tax overhaul is "dismissive and out of touch".
The federal government is coming under sustained pressure from startups and small businesses over its decision to remove the 50 per cent discount on capital gains tax and replace it with an inflation-adjusted scheme.
Mr Keating, who introduced capital gains tax as treasurer, said the campaign against the changes amounted to "howls for continuing preference".
"A couple of smarties, John Howard and Peter Costello, thought they could do their used-car selling and dodgy accounting mates a favour by jacking a 50 per cent discount onto the taxation of capital profits," the Labor elder statesman said in a statement.
