Coalition announces joint energy policy, Ley says migration policy imminent; Albanese sets sights on security deals with Fiji and Vanuatu

Anthony Albanese is under renewed pressure to radically reduce the union movement’s tax concessions for property investors; Negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions are damaging the economy, the ACTU warns.

Amid a surge in investor loans to buy existing homes, the ACTU says both concessions, which cost the federal government an estimated $25 billion in lost revenue in 2022-23, should be limited to a single property.

The Greens have launched a Senate inquiry into the 50 per cent concession on capital gains tax for assets held for at least a year, examining how the concession could affect Australia’s productivity levels and wealth distribution.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said current tax regulations were encouraging the country’s “professional homeowner” class to speculate on existing properties, rather than encouraging the building of new homes.

“As a country we invest a lot of money in real estate, huge sums indeed, but it’s the wrong kind of investment and it’s making housing affordability worse for working people,” he said.

McManus said changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax should target people who own more than one investment property. Of the 2.3 million taxpayers who claimed tax relief on their property in the 2022-23 financial year, 1.6 million owned just one home. There were 19,389 people with six or more.