2025-04-17
The Greens have today released a new analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Office which shows the cost of negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts will skyrocket to $180.5b over the next 10 years (2026-27 to 2035-36).
These tax handouts overwhelmingly benefit Australia’s wealthiest investors, leaving renters and first home buyers worse off. The vast majority of the two tax concessions will go to the top 10% of income earners, according to the distributional analysis done by the PBO.
76% of capital gains tax discounts for residential property investment will go to the top 10% of earners in 2025-26, and negative gearing is similarly skewed with 40% of the benefit going to the top 10% of investors.
These tax concessions make it easier for a wealthy property investor to buy their fifth house, than for someone to buy their first. The system is stacked against renters and first home buyers, and the Greens have announced a policy to end tax handouts for wealthy property investors with more than one investment property, to make housing actually affordable for renters and first home buyers.
Parliamentary library analysis (available on request) based on independent economic research shows that changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount such as those proposed by the Greens would allow more than 850,000 renters to move into a home they own by shifting the market away from wealthy property investors and towards home ownership.
Quotes attributable to Adam Bandt MP, Leader of the Australian Greens:
“The leaders' debate saw Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton furiously agreeing on $180 billion in handouts for property investors that turbocharge house prices and deny millions of renters the chance to buy their first home.
“Experts have slammed the major parties’ housing policies as a ‘dumpster fire’ that will push up house prices even further.
“With Liberal and Labor making the housing crisis worse, you can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result.
“The Greens are the party of renters and first home buyers, and we will make reforming negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount a priority in the next Parliament, including when there’s a minority government.”
Quotes attributable to Max Chandler-Mather MP, Greens Spokesperson for Housing and Homelessness:
“With house prices up 50% in the past 5 years, it’s terrible that Labor and the Liberals are taking policies to this election to push prices up even further.
“According to one expert, house prices will rise between 8 and 15 per cent this year alone depending on which of Labor and Liberals will win the election. That’s not acceptable.
“The Greens will right the wrongs of decades of housing failure and end the tax handouts for investors with more than one investment property that are turbocharging house prices and denying renters the chance to buy a home.
“How is it fair that a young family loses at an auction to an investor buying their 10th property because that investor has massive tax handouts from the government?
“Labor and Liberals are putting $180 billion into the pockets of wealthy property investors and banks, and renters and first home buyers are the losers.
“Renters are powerful at this election. By voting Greens, you can keep Dutton out and push Labor to reform negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount and finally start to truly tackle this housing crisis."