‘Trust me’: Anthony Albanese dodges questions on negative gearing

There are concerns that a major benefit for property-owning Aussies is under threat after the Prime Minister’s tax cut backflip.

Anthony Albanese has urged voters to “trust me” as he dodged questions over whether he’s open to breaking his promise not to touch negative gearing of investment properties

The Prime Minister has defended his backflip over the Stage 3 tax cuts today stressing that the vast majority of workers are winners.

“We’ll deliver a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer, not just some,” Mr Albanese said.

“We know that particularly low and middle income earners are under real financial pressure.

“And so when you have that evidence before you, you have to listen to people. And that is what we have done.”

Mr Albanese then added that voters “can trust me” regardless of the broken election promise.

“And Australians can trust me to be prepared to make difficult decisions, not the easy decisions. That is the priority that I have — putting people before politics,” he said.

But it was when questions turned to housing and the impact of negative gearing that the Prime Minister changed the subject to talk about “free TAFE”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Negative gearing occurs when the cost of owning a rental property outweighs the income it generates each year. This creates a taxable loss, which can normally be offset against other income including your wage or salary, to provide tax savings.

Some Labor MPs support limits on negative gearing arguing that it would improve housing affordability – a question that was put to the Prime Minister on Rockhampton radio.

“But the question remains that just only days before announcing those changes, you were saying there wouldn’t be changes, and now we’re looking at the same situation with negative gearing,” he was asked.

“No, I said that we hadn’t changed our position, and we didn’t until the Cabinet made that determination last Tuesday,” Mr Albanese replied.

“But what we have had is week after week, month after month, a call to do more on cost of living. Now, we’ve done an enormous amount on the cost of living. We’ve had our energy relief plan, we’ve had cheaper child care, cheaper medicines, fee-free TAFE have benefited 300,000 Australians.

“But this package is aimed squarely at middle Australia. It means that for the average worker they’ll get double the tax cut. And for the average working family, with both people working, they’ll get more than double.

Albanese at the 2024 Australian Open. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“So, this is about the right decision based upon the facts that are before us right now, and it is the right thing to do.”

Peter Dutton has declared Anthony Albanese’s leadership “dead, buried, cremated” warning that voters will not accept “a liar as PM” over his broken tax cuts promise.

“Australians will be bitterly disappointed because they are not voting for someone who is straight up and down, who could tell the truth and stand by what he believed in,’’ Mr Dutton told 2GB radio last week. “That is not Anthony Albanese.”

“The Prime Minister has completely and utterly destroyed his credibility with the Australian public”, Mr Dutton added.

“And the Australian public won’t support a liar as Prime Minister.”

Originally published as ‘Trust me’: Anthony Albanese dodges questions on negative gearing