Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has firmly denied that the impending addition of 700,000 Gen Z voters to the electoral roll by the next federal election influenced the negative gearing and capital gains tax changes unveiled in Tuesday’s federal budget. Speaking to Sarah Ferguson on ABC’s 7.30, Albanese claimed he considered only the policy’s merits, not its demographic appeal. 'If you concentrate on good policy, the politics will look after itself,' he said, presumably while not thinking about the 700,000 young people who will soon be eligible to vote. He argued the government couldn't 'sit back and continue to watch' income from labour treated differently to income from assets, a stance that might resonate with a generation that owns neither.
On the decision to grandfather existing negative gearing arrangements, Albanese explained that negative gearing is still available for new builds and typically lasts just over five years before properties become positively geared or are sold. He stressed the government is ensuring they don't change the basis for investors who made decisions based on previous rules - a comforting thought for those who got in early.
Meanwhile, the antisemitism royal commission kicked off early, hearing from Dr Dave Rich, policy director at the Community Security Trust in London. Rich defined antisemitism as 'prejudice, discrimination, hostility or hatred towards Jewish people' and traced its history through tropes like greedy moneylenders, Christ-killer accusations, the blood libel myth, and the post-Holocaust adaptation of comparing Jews to Nazis. He noted that governments need to define antisemitism to develop policies against it - a process that apparently requires a royal commission to get started.
Australians who shop at Coles are awaiting a federal court judgment on whether the supermarket intentionally deceived them with 'illusory' and 'utterly misleading' discounts. Justice Michael O’Bryan will rule this morning on the ACCC’s case, which alleges Coles and Woolworths temporarily hiked prices before putting products on 'sale' at prices higher than their long-term shelf price between 2021 and 2023. The case focused on a dozen products including Rexona deodorant, Arnott’s Shapes, and 2L bottles of Coca-Cola. Coles conceded it had already planned the 'Down Down' price when raising the original price, but argued the discounts were genuine due to rising wholesale costs. The verdict is expected at 9:30am.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor has vowed to 'fight like hell' against the budget tax changes, calling them 'an assault on aspiration' during an appearance on Channel Seven’s Sunrise. He promised to work with small businesses and homeowners to oppose the 'rotten legislation' and said the Coalition would repeal the capital gains tax discount changes if elected. 'Frankly, we’re going to fight like hell [against] this,' Taylor said, presumably while checking his own investment portfolio.
Albanese also expects productivity gains from the capital gains tax reforms, arguing the current system 'distorted the market towards housing away from equities.' He suggested some negative investor reactions weren't based on the policy itself and committed to consulting on the change - because nothing says 'good policy' like a promise to talk about it more.