‘Fanciful’: Property organisations call out Labor’s tax changes

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Well, it's 17 days since the budget was handed down and it's going so badly for the Albanesei government that it is still front page news and [singing] [music] >> it certainly does go on and on. Today's edition has three top property organizations warning that the idea changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax will only increase rents by $2 a week is fanciful. New modeling by independent consulting firm Quave and Chulipwood has found the changes would push rents up by $477 a year by 202930 and mean that $8,740 fewer new homes would be built by the end of the decade. because of course that's great for quote unquote intergenerational equity and it will really help people buy their first home.

[00:00:52]And interestingly the master builders, the property council and the real estate institute have all rebuked the government. They commissioned and jointly released this modeling. Now obviously the real estate institute might be upset with these changes because it will discourage investors from buying existing properties but the master builders and the property council they have a completely different interest. They're interested in having more construction and one of the things the government has said these changes will do is funnel investment into new homes because that's the only place you'd be able to negatively gear a property. Well, the people in the construction sector clearly don't believe that'll be the case. And it's more or less the same as what Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson said yesterday. This will not result in any more homes being built. I think the better way to think about the impact of these tax changes is about changing the distribution of ownership rather than uh them being central to um uh changing the sort of supply itself. In some instances this may largely reflect the fact that individuals are sensitive about paying additional tax which is totally understandable but revenue needs to be raised from somewhere.

[00:02:03]>> And she says the silent part out loud there. This isn't about intergenerational equity or making things easier for first home buyers or building new houses. It's about getting more tax money out of people. Simple as that. The Tax Institute has also hit out today. Their head of tax and legal, Julie Abdala, said it is alarming that no tax experts were engaged in the process of developing these changes. Not a single professional tax association representing hundreds of thousands of tax professionals collectively was consulted on these measures before legislation was introduced. Worse still, Australian taxpayers have not been given the opportunity to provide feedback on how these changes may affect their lives, investments, and businesses. But the prime minister has taken to social media today to allay everyone's fears.

[00:02:54]>> You've sent in some questions about our housing plan. And let me help to answer a couple. How are you changing the tax system? How do your changes help first home buyers? The system simply isn't working. We know it's broken. We're changing the way that tax breaks like negative gearing and capital gains can be used so there's less competition for first home buyers. Shouldn't we be doing more than just changing housing tax breaks? You're absolutely right. That's why we're building more homes as part of our $47 billion homes for Australia plan.

[00:03:30]>> Building more homes? Don't think so. And opposition leader Angus Taylor has backed Nationals leader Matt Canavan's calls for an early election on the ABC this morning, saying they will do whatever it takes to stop these tax changes. Now, I get the sentiment, but given recent polling, you have to wonder whether the coalition has a death