The budget in seven graphs: no big surprises but this may be one of the most ambitious moves to fix Australia’s finances

‘Killing off the capital gains tax 50% discount is a huge deal.’ Jim Chalmer’s 2026 budget finally delivers urgently needed tax reforms to aid housing affordability, Greg Jericho writes. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

This year’s budget is an odd affair. So much had been leaked and dropped to the media that there are barely any surprises. But that does not mean it does not live up to the billing of being ambitious – basically killing off the capital gains tax 50% discount is a huge deal.

The lack of changes on gas tax, an absence of increased assistance for the unemployed and renters, and cuts to the NDIS, however, show that this is still a government where ambition is not in surplus.