Latest news with #Labor Party
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Inside the Labor Party's bold push to increase taxes on property investors: 'Government now has a mandate to rectify inequity'
Labor Party activists are pushing to scrap the discount on capital gains tax when selling investment properties, despite Anthony Albanese ruling out such changes when in Opposition. Former Labor leader Bill Shorten lost the 2016 and 2019 elections with a plan to halve the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to 25 per cent. The lesson of those election defeats led Albanese to rule out tinkering with capital gains taxes after he took over as Labor leader, and he went on to win the 2022 election and was resoundingly re-elected in May. But now a grassroots organisation within the Prime Minister's own party – Labor for Housing – wants the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount scrapped entirely, not just diluted. That meant someone who made a $100,000 capital gain on their investment property would be taxed on the entire increase, not just $50,000 of it. Labor for Housing co-convener Julijana Todorovic told Daily Mail Australia the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for selling residential properties introduced in September 1999, needed to be dismantled. 'We think it should be removed entirely, so not immediately,' she said. 'Property should not be an investment for which you can claim the discount.' Ms Todorovic, a land rights lawyer, said the Albanese government should change policy before the next election campaign. 'Our view is that the Labor government now has a mandate to rectify inequity in Australian society,' she said. 'While it's clear from the election results that we can't be too radical, we must do something to stem the flow of generational inequity.' She argued the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount should be grandfathered for existing investors but scrapped for future purchases - a position the Greens took to the May election. 'We are proposing that residential property is removed as a category for which the discount can be claimed,' Ms Todorovic said. 'But we're proposing that this change is grandfathered to a certain date – so if people have structured their finances based on the discount, then they will have time to restructure – they won't be left high and dry.' Labor for Housing argued that scrapping the discount for properties would encourage investors to invest in technology and businesses, rather than putting all their funds into real estate and thereby driving up the country's massive house prices. 'Australia's capital resources have become landlocked by a CGT discount on property,' it said in a submission to the government's August Economic Reform Roundtable. 'As Australia electrifies, transitions to renewables and increases our data capacity, businesses are struggling to find adequate capital. 'By incentivising investment in the productive powers of the market, the government can increase the circular flow of capital in the economy, creating jobs and additional economic activity.' The Greens went to the last election with a plan to scrap the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for future purchases of investment properties, and grandfather it to one property for those who already owned an investment property. While Labor has a landslide majority in the House of Representatives, it just needs the Greens to get its legislation passed in the Senate without the need to win the support of other crossbenchers. The Labor-aligned McKell Institute has called for the federal government to reduce the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to 35 per cent for existing investment properties with a backyard. This means $65,000 of a $100,000 capital gain would be taxed, up from $50,000 now. But it has also called for the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to be increased to 70 per cent for newly-built apartments, arguing this kind of policy would boost housing supply and encourage more off-the-plan unit developments. That means only $30,000 of a $100,000 capital gain would be taxed - and force more Aussies into apartments rather than homes with a backyard as Labor aims to build 1.2million homes over five years. The McKell Institute's Harnessing Aspiration report argued the existing 50 per cent capital gains tax discount encouraged investor speculators to buy up houses at a time when there is a shortage. 'There is a unique incentive for investors to speculate on existing detached houses rather than non-existing off-the -plan attached dwellings or established attached dwellings,' he said. 'The blanket tax treatment of each of these asset types means an investor is much more attracted to high-growth existing detached dwellings than moderate-growth attached dwellings, especially new builds.' The average, full-time worker earning $102,742 a year is priced out of buying the median-priced house in every state and territory capital city except Darwin. Ms Todorovic said Labor for Housing's call to scrap the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount was not about stopping property speculation, but merely to have it treated the same way as other forms of speculative investment. 'It won't – this isn't the tool to correct speculation, this is about removing incentives which preference land above other more productive investments,' she said.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Aussie Labor Party's plan to raise taxes on property investors
Labor Party activists are pushing to scrap the discount on capital gains tax when selling investment properties, despite Anthony Albanese ruling out such changes when in Opposition. Former Labor leader Bill Shorten lost the 2016 and 2019 elections with a plan to halve the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to 25 per cent. The lesson of those election defeats led Albanese to rule out tinkering with capital gains taxes after he took over as Labor leader, and he went on to win the 2022 election and was resoundingly re-elected in May. But now a grassroots organisation within the Prime Minister's own party – Labor for Housing – wants the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount scrapped entirely, not just diluted. That meant someone who made a $100,000 capital gain on their investment property would be taxed on the entire increase, not just $50,000 of it. Labor for Housing co-convener Julijana Todorovic (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for selling residential properties introduced in September 1999, needed to be dismantled. 'We think it should be removed entirely, so not immediately,' she said. 'Property should not be an investment for which you can claim the discount.' Ms Todorovic, a land rights lawyer, said the Albanese government should change policy before the next election campaign. 'Our view is that the Labor government now has a mandate to rectify inequity in Australian society,' she said. 'While it's clear from the election results that we can't be too radical, we must do something to stem the flow of generational inequity.' She argued the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount should be grandfathered for existing investors but scrapped for future purchases - a position the Greens took to the May election. 'We are proposing that residential property is removed as a category for which the discount can be claimed,' Ms Todorovic said. 'But we're proposing that this change is grandfathered to a certain date – so if people have structured their finances based on the discount, then they will have time to restructure – they won't be left high and dry.' Labor for Housing argued that scrapping the discount would encourage investors to invest in technology and businesses, rather than putting all their funds into real estate and thereby driving up the country's massive house prices. 'Australia's capital resources have become landlocked by a CGT discount on property,' it said in a submission to the government's August Economic Reform Roundtable. 'As Australia electrifies, transitions to renewables and increases our data capacity, businesses are struggling to find adequate capital. By incentivising investment in the productive powers of the market, the government can increase the circular flow of capital in the economy, creating jobs and additional economic activity.' The Greens went to the last election with a plan to scrap the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for future purchases of investment properties, and grandfather it to one property for those who already owned an investment property. While Labor has a landslide majority in the House of Representatives, it needs the Greens or other Senate crossbenchers to get its legislation passed by the Upper House. The Labor-aligned McKell Institute has called for the federal government to reduce the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to 35 per cent for existing investment properties with a backyard. This means $65,000 of a $100,000 capital gain would be taxed, up from $50,000 now. But it has also called for the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to be increased to 70 per cent for newly-built apartments, arguing this kind of policy would boost housing supply and encourage more off-the-plan unit developments. That means only $30,000 of a $100,000 capital gain would be taxed - and force more Aussies into apartments rather than homes with a backyard as Labor aims to build 1.2million homes over five years. The McKell Institute's Harnessing Aspiration report argued the existing 50 per cent capital gains tax discount encouraged investor speculators to buy up houses at a time when there is a shortage. 'There is a unique incentive for investors to speculate on existing detached houses rather than non-existing off-the -plan attached dwellings or established attached dwellings,' he said. 'The blanket tax treatment of each of these asset types means an investor is much more attracted to high-growth existing detached dwellings than moderate-growth attached dwellings, especially new builds.' The average, full-time worker earning $102,742 a year is priced out of buying the median-priced house in every state and territory capital city except Darwin.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Australia PM Albanese kicks off China visit focused on trade
BEIJING (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off a visit to China this weekend meant to shore up trade relations between the two countries. Albanese met with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining on Sunday, the first in a series of high-level exchanges that will include meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji of the National People's Congress. Albanese is leading 'a very large business delegation' to China, which speaks to the importance of the economic relations between Australia and China, he told Chinese state broadcaster CGTN upon his arrival in Shanghai Saturday. During a weeklong trip, Albanese is set to meet business, tourism and sport representatives in Shanghai and Chengdu including a CEO roundtable Tuesday in Beijing, his office said. It is Albanese's second visit to China since his center-left Labor Party government was first elected in 2022. The party was reelected in May with an increased majority. Albanese has managed to persuade Beijing to remove a series of official and unofficial trade barriers introduced under the previous conservative government that cost Australian exporters more than 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year. Beijing severed communications with the previous administration over issues including Australia's calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of and responses to COVID-19. But Albanese wants to reduce Australia's economic dependence on China, a free trade partner. 'My government has worked very hard to diversify trade … and to increase our relationships with other countries in the region, including India and Indonesia and the ASEAN countries,' Albanese said before his visit, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 'But the relationship with China is an important one, as is our relationships when it comes to exports with the north Asian economies of South Korea and Japan,' he added. Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency, in an editorial Sunday, described China's relationship with Australia as 'steadily improving' and undergoing 'fresh momentum.' 'There are no fundamental conflicts of interest between China and Australia,' the editorial stated. 'By managing differences through mutual respect and focusing on shared interests, the two sides can achieve common prosperity and benefit.'
Al Arabiya
13-07-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Australia Pm Albanese Kicks Off China Visit Focused On Trade
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off a visit to China this weekend meant to shore up trade relations between the two countries. Albanese met with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining on Sunday, the first in a series of high-level exchanges that will include meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and Chairman Zhao Leji of the National People's Congress. Albanese is leading a very large business delegation to China, which speaks to the importance of the economic relations between Australian and China, he told Chinese state broadcaster CGTN upon his arrival in Shanghai Saturday. During a weeklong trip, Albanese is set to meet business, tourism, and sport representatives in Shanghai and Chengdu, including a CEO roundtable Tuesday in Beijing, his office said. It is Albanese's second visit to China since his center-left Labor Party government was first elected in 2022. The party was reelected in May with an increased majority. Albanese has managed to persuade Beijing to remove a series of official and unofficial trade barriers introduced under the previous conservative government that cost Australian exporters more than 20 billion Australian dollars (13 billion) a year. Beijing severed communications with the previous administration over issues including Australia's calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of, and responses to, COVID-19. But Albanese wants to reduce Australia's economic dependence on China, a free trade partner. 'My government has worked very hard to diversify trade… and to increase our relationships with other countries in the region including India and Indonesia and the ASEAN countries,' Albanese said before his visit, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 'But the relationship with China is an important one, as is our relationships when it comes to exports with the north Asian economies of South Korea and Japan,' he added. Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency in an editorial Sunday described China's relationship with Australia as steadily improving and undergoing fresh momentum. 'There are no fundamental conflicts of interest between China and Australia,' the editorial stated. 'By managing differences through mutual respect and focusing on shared interests, the two sides can achieve common prosperity and benefit.'
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Australia PM Albanese kicks off China visit focused on trade
BEIJING (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off a visit to China this weekend meant to shore up trade relations between the two countries. Albanese met with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining on Sunday, the first in a series of high-level exchanges that will include meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji of the National People's Congress. Albanese is leading 'a very large business delegation' to China, which speaks to the importance of the economic relations between Australia and China, he told Chinese state broadcaster CGTN upon his arrival in Shanghai Saturday. During a weeklong trip, Albanese is set to meet business, tourism and sport representatives in Shanghai and Chengdu including a CEO roundtable Tuesday in Beijing, his office said. It is Albanese's second visit to China since his center-left Labor Party government was first elected in 2022. The party was reelected in May with an increased majority. Albanese has managed to persuade Beijing to remove a series of official and unofficial trade barriers introduced under the previous conservative government that cost Australian exporters more than 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year. Beijing severed communications with the previous administration over issues including Australia's calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of and responses to COVID-19. But Albanese wants to reduce Australia's economic dependence on China, a free trade partner. 'My government has worked very hard to diversify trade … and to increase our relationships with other countries in the region, including India and Indonesia and the ASEAN countries,' Albanese said before his visit, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 'But the relationship with China is an important one, as is our relationships when it comes to exports with the north Asian economies of South Korea and Japan,' he added. Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency, in an editorial Sunday, described China's relationship with Australia as 'steadily improving' and undergoing 'fresh momentum.' 'There are no fundamental conflicts of interest between China and Australia,' the editorial stated. 'By managing differences through mutual respect and focusing on shared interests, the two sides can achieve common prosperity and benefit.' The Associated Press
