Anthony Albanese targets housing affordability
Anthony Albanese says Labor remains committed to tackling Australia’s housing affordability crisis.
Anthony Albanese says Labor remains committed to tackling Australia’s housing affordability crisis as he fends off criticism over the party’s decision to junk its reforms to negative gearing.
The Opposition Leader said housing affordability was a “major issue” and flagged more Labor policies to encourage the supply of new homes.
Mr Albanese said a $10bn fund to support the construction of social and affordable housing, unveiled in his May budget reply speech, would create jobs and provide new homes, “particularly in the regions”.
“Labor has a policy to increase social housing supply, which stands in stark contrast to this government,” Mr Albanese said.
Home values in capital cities have increased by 12 per cent in the past year, according to CoreLogic, with Sydney values soaring by nearly 15 per cent.
Opposition Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers said house prices were being driven by “incredibly low interest rates and the issues that we’ve got with supply”.
“When it comes to our housing policies, our first priority … is to build more affordable homes for people,” Dr Chalmers said.
“But obviously we have other policies under development. And we’ll have more to say about affordable housing.”
Labor’s negative gearing policy was taken to the 2016 and 2019 election under the leadership of Bill Shorten. It would have restricted negative gearing to investors in newly built properties, while halving the 50 per cent discount on capital gains tax.
Mr Albanese on Monday also announced a Labor government would make no change to the Morrison government’s income tax package, which would create a flat 30c-in-the-dollar tax rate on earnings between $45,000 and $200,000 by 2024.
Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon, who has been outspoken in his push for Labor to reclaim the political centre, backed Mr Albanese for axing “unsellable tax policies” and said the party was becoming more electorally competitive.
He said the next test for Labor was to ensure it did not commit to a 2030 or 2035 emissions reduction target from opposition.
“I trust we’ve dropped the idea of a medium-term target to 2030 or 2035,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
“We have a very solid commitment on net-zero emissions, which I support, and I believe is achievable largely through new technologies, but trying to set a medium-term target in competition with the government, from opposition, is political death.”
Josh Frydenberg said Labor was only “begrudgingly” supporting the government’s income tax package.
“No one should believe them,” the Treasurer said. “Labor can’t be trusted to deliver lower taxes.”
Greens leader Adam Bandt lashed the “sellout of the century” as he accused Labor of “siding with the Liberals to give tax cuts to billionaires”.
“When the Labor Party sides with the Liberals to introduce a flat-tax nightmare into Australia, they have abandoned their values,” Mr Bandt said. “It is now clear that the only way we’re going to get progressive change in this country is by kicking the Liberals out and putting the Greens into balance of power.”
In a speech in Parliament House in February, opposition housing spokesman Jason Clare said Labor’s housing plan would be based around helping more Australians buy a home, pushing the price of rents down, and providing more shelter for the homeless.
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