Key Points
- Anthony Albanese has told the ABC his government wasn’t considering taking negative gearing reform to the next election.
- The prime minister has faced scrutiny after media reports claimed the Treasury was modelling negative gearing and capital gains discount changes.
- Albanese has denied he directed the Treasury to review the policies and said it was a good thing the public service was being “creative”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government is not considering taking negative gearing reform to the next election.
Albanese has faced scrutiny since Monday, following a Sydney Morning Herald report claiming the government was considering its options and modelling
The measures allow property investors to offset losses from running a property against their income and halve the amount of tax they have to pay on any profit when they eventually sell.
Asked on the ABC on Wednesday if he was considering taking negative gearing and capital gains tax reform to the next election, he said: “no we’re not”.
He said the government was focused on addressing supply through a series of measures including the Homes for Australia policy and “putting that downward pressure on inflation”.
Across other breakfast TV interviews on Wednesday dominated by the issue, Albanese repeatedly said there were “no plans” to touch the tax concession.
Anthony Albanese denies he told Treasury to consider options
On Tuesday, Albanese denied that he directed anyone to review the policy options and said it was a good thing the public service was being “creative”.
“Treasury don’t need to be directed, they’re not schoolchildren with teachers up the front of the class, telling them what to do,” Albanese said.
“I want a public service that looks at ideas, that looks at policy.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said his department: “looks at all kinds of different policies from time to time”.
Would changes impact the housing supply?
Albanese also cast doubt on whether negative gearing changes would be a positive thing for investment in housing supply, which he said remained the focus.
“The problem is all of the analysis shows that a change to negative gearing will not assist supply,” he told Sky News.
The prime minister’s language came under scrutiny after he and his ministers repeatedly asserted there were “no plans” to change the stage three tax cut package – a Labor election pledge – before announcing an overhaul.
The Opposition criticised the Albanese “no plans” rhetoric, with housing spokesman Michael Sukkar calling it “verbal gymnastics” similar to that used before Labor changed the tax cuts.
Albanese defended changing the tax package to favour lower to middle-income earners, saying times had changed.
The Greens seized on this to argue economic times had indeed changed, which was why negative gearing and capital gains reform was necessary.
