Adam Bandt seeks public service ‘green book’ with negative gearing overhaul a ‘priority’

Greens leader Adam Bandt has asked department leaders to ‘prioritise briefings’ on overhauling negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.

Greens leader Adam Bandt MP during a press conference in Brisbane. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Greens leader Adam Bandt is pushing Treasury and Anthony Albanese’s department to help prepare for hung parliament negotiations as he looks to force Labor into accepting major changes to property taxes.

Mr Bandt has asked department leaders to “prioritise briefings” on overhauling negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount as part of an unprecedented “green book”, which follows three days of political debate on the issue, with the Coalition accusing the Prime Minister of “misleading” Australians on his plans.

Mr Albanese on Thursday again ruled out negotiating with the Greens in a possible hung parliament, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers that same day conceding he “sought a view” from Treasury on negative gearing reform but that it was not a part of his agenda.

On Thursday, Mr Bandt wrote to Glyn Davis, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary, asking that he instruct that department and Treasury to begin preparing a “green book” ahead of a possible hung parliament and to better help facilitate Greens policy priorities as part of any deal to help prop up Labor.

“Media reports indicate that the public service has appropriately begun work on the incoming government briefs; the red and blue books,” Mr Bandt wrote to the secretary.

“It is increasingly clear that whoever forms government will likely rely on crossbench support, and in turn need to be in a position to discuss in detail the policy proposals put forward by members of the crossbench.

“I am therefore writing to you to ask that you instruct the public service, as part of its work on incoming government briefs, to prepare a third brief: A green book.

“This will enable an incoming government to discuss and begin to implement key policy priorities of the Australian Greens, should they agree to them during negotiations in relation to the formation of government.”

The ‘red’ and ‘blue’ books refer to the formal briefs that are provided by the public service to members of an incoming government to ensure they can hit the ground running after writs have been returned.

The Greens will not support any possible Coalition minority government and instead look to negotiate with Labor, despite Mr Albanese repeatedly ruling out any deal or entering in negotiations with that party.

Mr Albanese said on Thursday: “I’m not negotiating with the Greens”.

Anthony Albanese has repeatedly ruled out any deal or entering in negotiations with the Greens. Picture: Mark Stewart / NewsWire

But Mr Bandt told Mr Davis that a “top priority” as part of any “green book” should be possible reforms to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.

Mr Bandt’s green book gambit, however, comes as ALP strategists had become increasingly confident a route to majority government existed for Labor, with The Australian revealing on Friday how campaign bosses had become enthused by electoral recoveries in NSW and Victoria.

Senior Labor figures told The Australian a majority government was in sight, with suburban voters shifting back to the Albanese government on the back of an “unconvincing campaign” by Peter Dutton.

While Labor increasingly believes a route to a majority exists, recent polling still points to a likely hung parliament with the ALP the largest party.

Whether the government had considered – or would consider – overhauling negative gearing was a key Coalition line of attack this week, instigated during Wednesday’s second leaders debate.

Although Mr Albanese has ruled out governing in coalition with the Greens, or even negotiating with them, Mr Bandt told The Australian that the public service needed to “get cracking” on a green book.

“Experts predict we’re heading to a minority government, where the Greens will prioritise giving first home buyers a chance by reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts for more than one investment property, alongside important cost of living support … all of which could be done by the end of the year,” he said.

“Experts have panned the major parties’ housing policies as a ‘dumpster fire’ that will push up house prices even further, and with millions of people realising we can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result, we now have a chance for real reform that will level the playing field for first home buyers.”

On Thursday, Dr Chalmers said any overhaul was not on his agenda as the prime minister said seeking advice on issues was part of the “normal process”.

“We have a public service that we encourage to engage in and if an issue is out there getting advice from it, but it’s not what we are doing,” Mr Albanese said on Thursday while campaigning in Brisbane.

Negative gearing allows a property investor to deduct annual running losses from their taxable income, meaning they pay less tax. When the investor sells their property, the 50 per cent discount means they pay tax on only half of their capital gain, provided they have held the asset for more than a year.

Labor went to the 2016 and 2019 elections promising to limit negative gearing to new properties, but ditched the policy after the party’s shock loss to Scott Morrison’s Liberal Party.