This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PRIME Minister Anthony Albanese hopped across television networks yesterday morning to quell rampant discussion around the government potentially making changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax.
“We have no plans,” he told Nine’s Today Show.
“Our plans (that) are out there, are about supply. And my concern with the proposals that have been put forward from time to time about negative gearing is that they won’t have a positive impact on supply,” he said.
“We need more homes.”
Albanese had decline on Wednesday to rule out Labor pushing for changes to negative gearing, a policy it took to the doomed 2016 and 2019 federal elections. Nine newspapers this week reported that the government had asked Treasury for advice on potential changes to negative gearing, which attracts both staunch support and fierce opposition. Negative gearing ultimately amounts to billions of dollars in tax benefits each year for property investors, who can deduct losses copped on investment properties.
On ABC’s News Breakfast, he similarly said the issue of negative gearing is “one of supply”.
“Will it add to supply or will it decrease supply? The figures and research that has been produced by organisations like the Property Council indicate that it would reduce supply and therefore not contribute to solving the issue. And that’s the issue.”
Over on Seven’s Sunrise, he reinforced that “when it has been looked at…it’s been shown that it won’t assist supply”.
The Opposition has said it would oppose any changes to negative gearing, while the Greens have called for end to the tax breaks altogether, saying they contribute to the national housing crisis, putting existing owners ahead of first home buyers.
The Greens and Opposition have teamed up multiple times in the past year to halt or delay the passage of Labor government housing policies through Parliament – mostly recently on the Help to Buy legislation in the Senate, prompting Albanese to threaten a double dissolution election.
Asked by Sunrise host Natalie Barr, “If you’re heading for minority government, is this one way of helping you get in with the Greens?”, Albanese replied, “No, I’m not slightly interested in the Greens’ approach.
“Because they’re just blockers, not builders.”
Back on the Today Show, he said “We want the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens, this new No-alition, to get out of the way and vote for our plans for Help to Buy, which is about more people buying homes, which will increase supply, and our build-to-rent scheme – that’s about incentives for the private sector to build more private rentals.”
“We also have, of course, our investments in public housing. So, we want more people in public housing, we want more private rentals and we want more people in home ownership.”
The federal government also recently kicked off its National Housing Accord initiative, which aims to deliver 1.2 million homes across the country over five years. However, construction capacity constraints have cast severe doubt over the target being met.
