Structural reforms necessary despite global shocks: Chalmers

Addressing the National Press Club Treasurer Jim Chalmers said global shocks are no longer rare and it is not possible to wait for calm to embark on big policy changes.

"It's no longer possible to separate cyclical and structural change, or to deal with one then the other. If you wait for perfect stability to reform, you'll be waiting forever," Chalmers said.

"This global turbulence is no excuse to roll up into a little ball and hope it passes quickly, if anything it's a reason to do more on resilience and more on reform, more urgently."

Chalmers added he would rather defend a shift in policy than leave a broken status quo in place to do more damage and marginalise more people over time.

"It would have been easier to see what's happening around the world as an excuse to leave some of the most difficult challenges in our economy for someone else to fix later," he said.

"We made a different more difficult choice in this budget: to accelerate reform not just absorb the shock."

Due to the Middle East conflict, he said, the emphasis on fuel security also became a much bigger part of the story.

"The way we thought about cost-of-living help changed when the fuel tax cut became necessary, and we had to find almost $3 billion to fund it," he said.

"Some good ideas were delayed for more work, and for understandable reasons. The core remained intact and for good reasons as well."

Budgets are typically sketched out in summer and locked in autumn. Chalmers noted a large part of the work done prior to the Middle East conflict did feature in the Federal Budget presented on May 12.

"Nobody here would be surprised they weren't identical to what we would have done in February, it would be pretty strange if they were," he said.

"What might surprise you is how much we retained."

Chalmers said the Budget retained its initial intent with its five core objectives: getting through the global oil shock, taking the immediate pressure off people, making the economy more productive and competitive, reforming the tax system for workers, first home buyers, businesses and future generations, and making the budget stronger, more sustainable and helping to take the pressure off inflation.

These objectives put focus on an overhaul of the capital gains tax (CGT) discount and negative gearing, tax on discretionary trusts to address intergenerational inequity, pushing for investment risk taking and increased savings from programs like the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

These policies, Chalmers said, will help deal with the collapse in housing affordability which has disproportionately impacted younger Australians. The reforms are about rebalancing a tax system that favours assets over workers as well as concessions that have fundamentally distorted the housing market, he added.

"Of all the fine balances we struck... perhaps the most essential was between responding to the demands of the here-and-now while taking seriously our intergenerational obligations," Chalmers said.

"These changes and this intergenerational focus aren't about putting older and younger people at 10 paces. We recognise and respect the really big contribution that older Australians have made and continue to make to our country and our economy."