Tim Lester

Frankly, they are an assault on aspiration.

They are going to undermine wealth creation and prosperity creation and our standard of living in this country.

And so we will fight against them all the way to when this legislation comes to the parliament and beyond, if necessary.

Our aim, though, let me tell you,

is to ensure this legislation doesn't get through the parliament.

Yeah, and in fact, over the years, Tash, what's happening with budgets is more and more they're taking the outlook anything that could cause us grief.

get it out there beforehand, let people blow off steam, and by the time you actually get to the day, there's not that much else to talk about very often.

Will you get the detail?

And if you're invested in the detail, that's great.

But in terms of the earth-shattering material, they get it out quickly and let us blow off steam before Budget Day.

I don't doubt there was a bit of that going on.

Let's put out a word and see what we get back.

Politicians always play that or often play that toe in the water game before they commit themselves.

They'll tell a journalist or hint at something but not commit to it.

So they set off a news story and then they watch what feedback they get back.

I mean, there was various things.

versions of the negative gearing and capital gains discount changes that the really big ticket changes in this budget that we were hearing beforehand but in the end they settled on the version we've seen and as you say I reckon they road tested it a bit before we got there.

No doubt they'll take heat.

They're already taking heat and they were taking heat before they let the budget go as the opposition very clearly sensed that they'd locked into this and that this was going to be about honesty.

Anthony Albanese has made a trademark of his to say, look, I make a commitment, I stick by it, we go and deliver it.