May 21, 2026 — 5:20pmFederal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has acknowledged growing concerns that changes to capital gains tax could impact Western Australia’s mining industry – particularly mineral exploration, which has been labelled as the nation’s “original startup”.But he added it was “important to remember whether it’s mining or in other parts of the economy, we still expect where there are investments that generate very big returns, that that will still be the case.”Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers at a CME lunch in Perth.Holly ThompsonChalmers gave a speech, and took part in a question-and-answer session with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Aaron Morey on Thursday.He acknowledged WA was “in so many ways the engine room of the Australian economy” before being asked about how changes to capital gains tax would impact investment in mineral exploration.Concerns that the changes will stem investment in those mining projects because they were considered higher risk have been floating around in the industry since the possibility of reform was made public.“We’re trying to do essentially three things,” Chalmers said of the changes.“First of all, make it easier for people to buy their first home, secondly to fund another tax cut for workers, and thirdly to try and better align the treatment of labor income and asset income in the tax system.“Part of that … is recognising when it comes to the start-up community there is a different set of considerations there, and so we’ve been working with the startup sector to recognise the unique elements of that part of the economy and to see if we can find a way through.“What we’re trying to do is a better job of recognising the real gains that people make when they make these important investments.”Morey then asked Chalmers about the impact on foreign investment, saying it was “only going to become more difficult to attract that international investment into the country”.He asked if the Treasurer was open to “refining that exposure draft if consultation identifies unintended consequences for investment”.“I acknowledge that it is contentious legislation,” Chalmers replied.“What we’re trying to do with that change, which is not from this budget but from an earlier budget, is to more closely align the treatment of foreign and domestic investors.“We’re not trying to raise extra revenue out of that element of it. In fact, we booked precisely $0 against it in the budget, but we are trying to clarify it.“I acknowledge that not everybody likes the way that we’re going about that.”Chalmers said foreign investment had a “crucial role to play in the economy, especially here, but we’ve got to make sure it’s in the national interest”.“When it comes to the arrangements around exploration, we’ve been big supporters,” he said.Holly Thompson is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X or email.From our partners