Federal Election 2025: Greens’ demands would cost $215 billion

Newly updated costings of the Greens’ plan to slash negative gearing and capital gains concessions would put Australians on the hook for more than $215 billion, it can be revealed.

A Labor minority government forced to negotiate with the Greens would expose Australians to a “tax bomb” of more than $215 billion, according to new analysis.

Anthony Albanese has ruled out negotiating on several key planks of the Greens’ minority government wishlist, including scrapping negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts, but Adam Bandt has maintained it would be “astounding” if the prime minister did not work with the minor party if Labor failed to secure enough seats to govern in its own right.

The Greens leader also called former prime minister John Howard a “bastard” for introducing the 50 per cent capital gains discount in 1999, arguing over time it had locked young Australians out of the housing market.

Newly updated costings of the Greens’ plan to slash negative gearing, capital gains concessions and raise the tax rate for family businesses structured through trusts produced by the Coalition shows the total tax hit would be about $9bn greater than the minor party forecast almost a year ago.

The older figures produced by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) for the Greens last July assumed a smaller tax baseline compared to the newer analysis, which takes into account things like more people negative gearing or greater losses due to interest rates being higher for longer.

Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The original figure of $176bn in higher taxes by significantly cutting back capital gains discounts and negative gearing has now been forecast by the Coalition to be $181bn.

The Greens’ $30.6bn tax hike on businesses structured through a trust would actually be $34bn now.

Mr Albanese has said he won’t do a deal with the Greens, despite the reality that if Labor failed to secure the required 76 seats to form majority government the party would have to turn to the crossbench for support.

Negative gearing and capital gains tax discount changes are high on the minor party’s list of demands in the event of a hung parliament, but when asked on Wednesday morning if he would consider bowing to these “ransom” requests, Mr Albanese dodged a direct answer.

“Adam Bandt is trying to make himself relevant, I don’t blame him for that,” the PM said.

“There’s nothing new about the Greens talking themselves up.

“But the truth is, that our objective is to hold onto the 78 seats we have currently and build on it.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he won’t do a deal with the Greens. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

A few hours later the PM was pushed to clarify his position on the key tax changes the Greens were pushing for, and said “yes” when asked to rule out changes to negative gearing and capital gains concessions.

Mr Albanese said even though Labor did not have a majority in the Senate for the last three years, his government had “stuck to our position” opposing the tax changes.

He went so far as to promise Labor wouldn’t engage in any bargaining with the Greens over the negative gearing and capital gains, even if it would help pass other legislation.

But Coalition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said Labor had costed changes to the tax policies during their time in government, which meant the party “simply can’t be trusted” on the issue.

Ms Hume said Australians had already suffered a collapse in living standards, but this would worsen under the “chaos” of a Labor-Greens minority parliament.

“We’ve seen this movie before — crippling taxes on housing and family businesses, out of control spending and higher debt and deficit,” she said.

The Greens policy shake-up would grandfather negative gearing, which allows investors to deduct the costs of running a rental property – including interest on their mortgage – against their other income, but would be axed for any new properties purchased.

The 50 per cent capital gains tax discount would be similarly rolled back.

In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Bandt said the Liberals had created a “time bomb” by introducing the capital gains tax discount more than 25 years ago.

“Perhaps the biggest bastard of them all was John Howard, former Liberal prime minister, who single-handedly put house prices out of reach of first-home buyers with the capital gains tax discount in 1999,” he said.

Mr Bandt repeated his belief it would be “astounding” if Mr Albanese did not negotiate with the Greens in the event Labor failed to reach the required 76 seats to govern in its own right.

“I think there is an expectation that, in the next parliament, it’s a minority parliament, that we work together,” the Greens leader said.

“We’re putting on the table what we would like to see.”

Originally published as Federal Election 2025: Greens’ demands would cost $215 billion