Tax, gambling and migration fights ahead for Labor

analysis Stage is set for debates on tax, migration and gambling ahead of parliament's return Thu 6 Aug 2026 at 4:26pm , updatedThu 6 Aug 2026 at 4:33pm Welcome back to your weekly federal politics update, where Gina Rushton is filling in for Courtney Gould to get you up to speed on the happenings from Parliament House. Parliament is yet to resume but the battlelines have been drawn for political fights set to play out next week when the winter break ends and the prime minister settles back in after his holiday in Tasmania. The gambling debate has kicked off, the government is readying to unveil its new immigration policy and the treasurer has been tinkering with his tax overhaul. On Tuesday night Jim Chalmers released four pieces of draft legislation with the next round of tweaks to his capital gains tax and negative gearing reforms that passed parliament in late June. The draft promises to fix what critics have dubbed a "widow's tax" (the loss of existing negative gearing access for people who inherit an investment property from their spouse) and so-called "death tax" (taxing disbursements from discretionary trusts established at death). Chalmers has said the changes reflect the government's "commitment to consult" on the tax reforms announced in the budget while acting opposition leader Jane Hume wasn't buying it, saying Labor was "still trying to clean up a mess of its own making". The treasurer will be under pressure next week as the Coalition, One Nation, independent David Pocock and the Greens are planning a joint push to force the abolition of the "widow tax" in the next sitting. Gambling companies won some, lost a bit more at Senate inquiry You win some, you lose a bit more if you're one of the gambling companies that appeared at this week's Senate inquiry into Labor's wagering laws. Representatives from Sportsbet, Tabcorp and Responsible Wagering Australia appeared before the inquiry to defend an industry that makes Australians the biggest gambling losers per capita with some $32 billion lost annually, including from pokies, according to an Equity Economics report commissioned by anti-gambling advocates last year. "Publicity-seeking extremists" was how Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys described the senators leading the inquiry. But the companies spent a decent chunk of time defending their own forms of self-promotion, whether it was answering questions about pictures of children wearing Bet365 shirts, or about gambling ads playing between Disney songs on Spotify. It was tough going too for the department officials responsible for Labor's legislation, as they appeared unable to provide the basis for advertising restrictions. The legislation would restrict gambling television ads to three per hour between 6am and 8:30pm, with a complete ban during live sport in those hours — but a question about the reasoning behind these time frames was taken on notice. Former rugby league player Luke Bateman gave evidence about his personal experience losing "tens of thousands of dollars a month" to problem gambling. Bateman, who last month told Australian Story his gambling meant he could barely afford to feed himself while earning $400,000 playing for the Canberra Raiders, said there was "absolutely zero duty of care" from the gambling companies. He described being flown interstate for race days where he says he was given alcohol and offered his choice of drugs. Bateman did not disclose during the inquiry that he had been previously employed in the gambling industry, but on Wednesday confirmed to the ABC he had worked for Southern Cross Bet for six months shortly after he left the NRL. He said he was still struggling with problem gambling and quit the position to go into rehab. Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Reverend Tim Costello also told the inquiry TAB and Sportsbet had funded travel, escorts and drugs for a high-spending gambler who was now in Silverwater prison on charges related to the theft of about $12.3 million. The companies have denied claims they offered customers access to illicit drugs and sex workers to encourage continued gambling, and implored advocates to present evidence to authorities. After the two days of sensational evidence, the Coalition has said the government is ignoring gambling inducements which are causing "immeasurable harm to some Australians". The Greens and crossbench have also pushed for amendments aimed at further protecting children and vulnerable Australians and some of Labor's own MPs are pushing for a stronger plan. But as the ABC's Clare Armstrong reported this morning, Labor is unlikely to entertain major changes to its gambling ad crackdown despite the bill being friendless in parliament and claims it would in fact consider shelving the gambling advertising crackdown altogether rather than substantially changing it. That's one way to negotiate. Labor loiters on immigration Tony Burke was scheduled to appear at the National Press Club today to unveil a new immigration policy but the home affairs minister cancelled as some elements were not going to be finalised before the speech. As the ABC's Tom Crowley reported, the measures are expected to include a crackdown on asylum seeker work and appeal rights, a ban on visitors applying for family visas while in Australia, and a reduction of the number of backpackers allowed to extend their visa stays beyond a year. The government's political rivals seized on Burke's cancellation, with Pauline Hanson claiming he was "fighting his own cabinet, the unions and the Greens", and the Coalition accusing Labor of "coming late to the party" on lowering migration. Labor is acutely aware of the role One Nation's immigration stance has played in its rise, as David Speers wrote in his column this morning, but the government is also aware of the political sensitivities and the backlash any change to the migration program will attract. "If stopping asylum seeker boats was the great immigration challenge in decades past, achieving a lower net overseas migration (NOM) figure has become the new political test," Speers wrote. We all just saved about $300 billion When he appeared at the National Press Club last year Clive Palmer said that if he successfully sued Australia for almost $300 billion, he would spend it better than the government. I guess we'll never find out if the billions of dollars could have revived his defunct dinosaur park Palmersaurus into something more Spielbergian, as the former politician has lost his legal fight. Palmer will instead have to pay the Commonwealth $13 million court costs after he failed to classify himself as a foreign investor when on Wednesday a Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld a previous finding. His case argued the government had breached a trade agreement in blocking his company's mining proposal in Western Australia. It is the latest development in Palmer's ongoing legal woes — accounts of his mining company found he's lost more than $160m in royalties as he remains in a separate legal battle with his mining tenants. LoadingOne Nation v the media And finally, last week we flagged that Pauline Hanson would be announcing her candidates for the Victorian election. Unfortunately she banned the ABC, Guardian Australia and The Age from the press conference where she revealed the candidates. She told Melbourne's 3AW the trio of outlets were "left leaning like your judges" and she's "not interested". The ABC still reported on the new candidates from afar, as well as a protest of about 200 people outside the party's fundraiser. In May, ahead of the Farrer by-election, One Nation's chief-of-staff James Ashby ejected two journalists working for the ABC's rural service. In a National Press Club speech broadcast on the ABC in June, Hanson called for the national broadcaster to be a subscription-only service. Still, it isn't quite as extreme as her desires for SBS, which she'd like to be axed altogether. "There's no need for it anymore," she said, days after SBS began its FIFA World Cup coverage.