Anthony Albanese accused of lying about negative gearing as he refuses to rule out changes

Anthony Albanese has been accused of lying to Australians after refusing to rule out changes to negative gearing as the Treasurer bats away questions.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has remained tight lipped on whether he directed his department to scope out negative gearing changes ahead of the next election.

Mr Chalmers on Wednesday tried to downplay the significance of Treasury looking into options to scale back negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, saying increasing housing supply was the government’s top priority.

“Treasury looks at all kinds of different policies from time to time, it is not unusual for us to get advice from departments on issues that have been speculated about in the public or the parliament,” Mr Chalmers said.

“That is how a good public service operates.

“I’m not going to engage in hypothetical impacts of hypothetical policies when we have already got a housing policy.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has remained tight lipped on whether he directed his department to scope out negative gearing. Picture: Martin Ollman

Asked if voters could expect the government to argue that “circumstances had changed”, like it did earlier this year on stage three tax cuts, Mr Chalmers said he was proud of the reforms because it helped Australians with cost of living pressures.

“We were upfront and we explained the changes that we’ve made, and I think the public have recognised that we were trying to do the right thing,” he said.

“We have made it clear that our housing policy is all about building more homes, more homes for Australians making it easier to rent or buy a home at a time when there were not enough homes, and that is what is pushing rents up, even with our efforts with Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

“When it comes to tax changes, our priorities have been the PRRT, the biggest balances in a superannuation, tax incentives for build to rent, and other tax policies that we have already announced.”

It comes as Anthony Albanese has refused to rule out changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, insisting Labor “value the public service” when grilled about reports treasury officials have been asked for advice on changing the concessions.

The Prime Minister said he had “seen the reports” and did not deny his government had commissioned the advice.

“What we do is we value the public service,” he said.

“So from time to time, I’m sure the public service are looking at policy ideas. That’s because we value them.”

Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Albanese argued he was focused on Labor’s existing housing legislation, including the “Help to Buy” proposal before the parliament.

“What we’re doing is doing the legislation that we had before the Senate,” he said.

The Coalition has seized on the reports, with opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume warning scaling back negative gearing could have a “dramatic” impact on housing supply.

“If you take landlords out of the system, well, then all that happens is rents go up,” she said.

“You take away negative gearing, as clearly the government are planning to do, that’s why they’re commission the work … you’re going to have a dramatic impact on rental supply.”

Senator Jane Hume at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Ms Hume accused Mr Albanese of “lying to the Australian people” about whether his government was considering scaling back negative gearing or capital gains concessions.

“As recently as last week, the Prime Minister was (on this program) and saying the questions were not very clever,” Ms Hume told ABC Radio.

Five years ago then-Labor leader Bill Shorten took a suite of policies, including changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, to the 2019 election where Labor failed to win over voters in what had been dubbed the “unlosable election”.

About 1.2 million Australians currently have a negatively geared investment property, which means the income they collect from rent is less than mortgage and other costs and that loss is then off-set against their taxable income.

The capital gains tax is applied to the profit made when an asset is sold, but a 50 per cent discount on this kicks in if the purchase, usually a house, has been held for 12 months before it is old.

In 2023-24 the estimated foregone tax revenue was $10.92bn, with $5.7bn relating to negative gearing deductions and $5.22bn relating to the capital gains tax discount.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said it was clear Labor was doing a “bit of kite flying” to see what the public reaction to any changes might be before the PM “actually dips his toe fully into it”.

“It’s just a sign of exactly the things he wants in his kit bag if he gets into a minority government with the Greens and the teals to be able to placate them,” Mr Littleproud said.

The Greens have indicated they would support Labor’s signature Help to Buy and Build to Rent schemes if the party slashed negative gearing, which were railroaded in the Senate last week after the Greens refused to support them.

Leader of the National Party David Littleproud at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Greens leader Adam Bandt said Labor “could have a deal” on their housing policies if it includes reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax.

“Last week the Greens told Labor we wanted them to wind back negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts as part of passing their weak housing bill. Labor said it was impossible. Now they admit it’s possible. They must commit to doing it,” he wrote on social media.

“This kind of reform could start to fix the housing crisis and see Labor’s weak housing bill pass the Senate. Labor tried to bulldoze it through last week without negotiating. The Greens said no. But if they commit to winding back negative gearing and CGT, they could have a deal.”

Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Bandt said Labor had now “admitted it’s possible” to slash negative gearing.

“As of today, Labor hasn’t committed to doing it, but now we know they’re thinking about it. They’ve admitted it’s possible. We’ve got to keep the pressure on. The Greens will not stop fighting in parliament for renters and first home buyers.”Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather praised the possibility of Labor slashing negative gearing, claiming it’s due to pressure from his party.

“The party of Labor landlords is cracking under pressure from the party of renters. After pretending it was impossible, all of a sudden under pressure from the Greens millions of renters finally have some hope, as Labor is actively considering changes to negative gearing and (capital gains tax),” he said.

“Labor’s Help to Buy scheme will drive up house prices and may help no one.”

Greens federal MP for Griffith, Max Chandler-Mather. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Mr Chandler-Mather, writing on social media, said Labor was considering the changes because the party was “feeling the pressure” from renters.

“Negative gearing and the capital gains discount put billions of dollars in the pockets of property speculators who go to auctions and bid up the price of housing,” he said.

“They have to go…make no mistake, Labor is feeling the pressure because renters like you have started to fight back.”

Meanwhile Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth insisted it was “routine” for Treasury to model different policy options, but refused to confirm if Labor had specifically requested work on negative gearing when grilled about the prospect of Labor reining in the concessions.

“Treasury does this sort of work, it would have done so under the previous Coalition government,” she told Sunrise.

“Treasury does routine work all the time around different policies, different ideas.

Asked if he wanted the government to consider winding back the concessions, Labor Hawke MP Sam Rae said believed more housing supply was needed.

“I want my government to consider any changes that are necessary to make our community a better community and our society a fairer and safer society,” he told ABC radio.

“The conversation around negative gearing and the taxation treatment of housing is important conversation, and it’s happening broadly across our community, but it’s a taxation conversation.

“If we want to deal with the housing challenges our community faces, there’s only one answer, and it is increasing the number of houses, and that is what our policy focus is.”

Macnamara MP Josh Burns, who is facing a challenge from the Greens in his inner Melbourne seat, said he was “open to solutions if it helps my community”.

“We will always look for ways to make this easier and better,” Mr Burns said.

“There’s policies on the table right now that will help thousands of renters, and help people enter the housing market.

“It’s mad that the Greens are working with Peter Dutton to block these policies.”