The chaos and dysfunction enveloping the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has now claimed another victim, with changes to the capital gains tax arrangements for foreign residents not being debated until next year.

The Treasurer delaying the bungled capital gains tax changes that apply to Australian expats is actually set to make badly designed legislation even worse.

Labor has always supported the policy intent of the measure in principle, but has had concerns about the unintended consequences for expatriates.

I had written to the former Treasurer, now Prime Minister, about these issues.

Given the timing of next years election and the Government instituting a part-time Parliament, there is not a lot of time for the Senate to consider this bill prior to its intended start date on 1 July 2019.

This measure has caused incredible uncertainty in our expatriate community. While the Government has flagged its intention to make targeted changes to their legislation, it does not go far enough.

We call on the Government to fix the issues with its flawed legislation with the greatest urgency.