There’s broad agreement Australia’s tax system is outdated and in need of an overhaul – but the task has been left in the too-hard basket for decades.

Now, Allegra Spender is taking on the thankless political task of firing up the stalled reform bandwagon. For her efforts, the independent MP for the Sydney seat of Wentworth has been named the winner of this year’s McKinnon Prize for emerging political leader.

So why has Spender taken on the toxic politics of tax from the relative powerlessness of the crossbenches?

“Because no one else is doing it,” she said. “I think that is the role of independents and crossbenchers – to say what needs to be said when nobody else is willing to say it, and then to try and build the case for why.”

Soon after being elected in May 2022 Spender launched her own 18-month tax review assisted by several experts, including former Treasury boss Ken Henry. This included consultations with businesses, unions, welfare groups and voters.

In November 2024, she released a tax “green paper” – a name traditionally given to a policy discussion document that puts forward possible reform options and invites debate.

It was a high-stakes move by a first-term teal independent MP who had just snatched a seat considered Liberal Party heartland.

Spender followed up the green paper with a tax roundtable at Parliament House in July.

The McKinnon prize panel said it was courageous of Spender to “put her head above the parapet” and advocate for difficult tax changes. It also praised her “impressive policy approach, significant and substantial work on tax reform, and her discipline in pursuing a challenging policy agenda.”

Despite the risks, Spender’s campaign for a tax overhaul did not hurt her electoral prospects.

At the 2025 election in May she lifted her margin in Wentworth by 1.5 per cent compared with her first victory in 2022. Spender now holds the seat with a comfortable 58.3 per cent margin in two-candidate preferred terms.

Spender says many voters are open to tax reform.

“I was literally walking along the beach the other day and a woman walked past and said, ‘keep going on tax, you’re doing a great job’ – people are thoughtful, they recognise there aren’t easy answers to some of the biggest challenges we face as a country, so we’re going to have to look at the hard ones,” she said.

Spender says tax reforms are needed to help deal with three great national challenges. First, they can address growing intergenerational inequalities and help younger Australians, especially with access to housing; second, they can assist businesses and boost productivity; and third, they will help ensure an efficient transition to renewable energy.

The green paper argues Australia’s heavy reliance on income tax revenue is placing an unfair and growing burden on younger working Australians. This, and other tax settings, are blamed for exacerbating the housing affordability crunch.

“I think there is a big concern out there that young people won’t have the same options as their parents did,” says Spender. “I worry right now that in relation to housing and young people, your family background has a disproportionate impact on your ability to have a good life, and I have a real problem with that … I see tax as a part of the solution, but one that’s been too hot to handle for most people.”

Spender says all taxes should be on the table for review, including stamp duty – an especially inefficient tax levied by state governments on property transactions.

The McKinnon Prize panel said her push for tax reform “has reignited a crucial debate on modernising Australia’s fiscal policies to better align with the evolving economic landscape and the needs of our society.”

Spender, who studied economics at Cambridge University, has made economic policy a personal focus since being elected. Before entering politics she also worked as a business analyst at consultancy McKinsey and as managing director of Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd, a large fashion business founder by her mother, Carla Zampatti.

Spender is not the first member for Wentworth to put forward their own tax paper. In 2005 Malcolm Turnbull, then the newly elected Liberal member for the seat, released a plan which modelled almost 300 possible tax changes. He labelled it as a crusade to “get the debate about tax reform out of the too-hard basket.”

Turnbull’s intervention ruffled feathers within the Howard government and his proposals were publicly dismissed by then-treasurer Peter Costello.

So far, Spender is not at loggerheads with the incumbent treasurer. She says Jim Chalmers is making the right noises on tax; following the government’s economic roundtable in August he described the tax system as “imperfect” and signalled future reforms.

“It’s a positive that he’s even put it on the agenda,” Spender says. “When I went into parliament in 2022, nobody wanted to talk about tax.”

This article is part of a content partnership between the Herald, The Age and McKinnon, an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit that focuses on the importance of democracy and good government.