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Australia has some of the world's costliest homes. Will scrapping tax breaks help?

negative gearing and CGT at successive elections in 2016 and 2019. It lost both, and many pointed the finger at its housing promises. But since 2019 the housing crisis has worsened, its impact reaching further

Changing tax rules for investors won’t shrink housing supply or raise rents. Just look at Victoria

negative gearing to their advantage, before richly profiting upon sale, backed by a generous CGT discount. [Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email](https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=copyembed&CMP=emailbutton) This rewards poor decision-making by allowing

Existing property investors likely to avoid more tax under possible CGT changes in Chalmers’ May budget

property investors look set to avoid paying more tax under Labor’s mooted [changes to CGT](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/28/cgt-capital-gains-discounts-tax-australia) in next month’s budget, after Jim Chalmers said he wanted to “make sure that

Guardian Essential poll: Australians want higher tax on gas exports and extension of petrol excise cut

reform in next month’s federal budget. A large majority, 68%, want the fuel excise cut to be extended: the [temporary halving of federal tax on petrol](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/30/labor-to-halve-fuel-excise-on-petrol-and-diesel-for-three-months-after-national-cabinet-meeting#:~:text=Petrol%20prices-,Labor%20cuts%20fuel%20excise%20for%20three%20months%2C%20saving%20Australians%2026c,litre%20on%20petrol%20and%20diesel&text=Anthony%20Albanese%20has%20slashed%20the,to%20manage%20the%20petrol%20crisis), saving motorists 26 cents

Federal budget 2026 summary – winners and losers

impacting fuel supplies globally, including Australia. Inflation is still causing havoc on household budgets. Government programs are costing more than ever. We’ve read hundreds of budget paper pages so you don’t have