Nat Barr has hit out at a Labor minister over the Albanese government’s refusal to confirm or deny whether it is considering changing negative gearing rules.
The Sunrise presenter spoke to Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth in a heated interview on Wednesday morning following reports that the government had sought advice from the Treasury on reducing tax benefits for property investors.
Earlier on Wednesday, Premier Anthony Albanese avoided giving a direct answer on the issue when pressed by reporters at a news conference in Tasmania.
Negative gearing policies allow real estate investors to claim tax deductions when the costs of owning and maintaining their investment properties, such as loan interest and maintenance fees, exceed the rental income they earn from them.
This tax benefit can reduce the real estate investor’s taxable income and is used by investors to reduce their tax bills.
“Amanda, are you considering reducing negative debt in this country?” Barr asked.
Ms Rishworth said Labour was focused on building more homes to address the country’s housing shortage and Labour’s current proposal was not to add negative gearing measures to that.
“We have a really ambitious housing policy that focuses on supply. It is not our proposal to address it or add negative leverage. We are moving forward in the task of increasing housing supply,” he said.
Labour’s Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth (left) was questioned by Nat Barr (right) over reports that the government had asked for advice on reducing negative gearing.
But Barr pressed the question of whether the administration had specifically sought advice on reducing Treasury tax benefits, even if it was not part of a current proposal.
Barr repeated the question several times but, instead of giving a yes or no answer, Ms. Rishworth took aim at her political opponents.
“I have to be very clear that as a Government our objective is to deliver the housing agenda that is before us, frankly, if the Greens and the Coalition were to step aside in the Senate.”
“Okay, that’s obviously not an answer,” Barr said, exasperated.
Shadow finance minister Jane Hume, appearing in the same interview as Ms Rishworth, said reducing negative gearing could reduce the amount of rental property provided by investor landlords.
“If you take out the negative leverage, as the government is clearly planning to do, which is why they are commissioning the work… you are going to have a dramatic impact on the rental supply,” he said.
“It’s a real problem that already exists in this country and it would only make things worse.”
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten’s plan to ditch negative leverage contributed to his loss of the “can’t lose election” to Scott Morrison in 2019.
When Mr Albanese took over, he said changes to negative leverage were off the table.
Anthony Albanese would not confirm whether his government is considering changes to tax benefits for property investors amid a housing shortage.
In interviews last week, Mr Albanese was repeatedly asked whether Labor would consider changes to negative leverage, and at no point did he rule it out.
“I don’t answer those kinds of questions,” he told ABC Radio National on Thursday.
But two days earlier, he publicly referred to a claim by the Property Council of Australia that switching to negative gearing would hurt housing supply.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re very cautious about it,” he told ABC Radio Sydney.
Being “cautious” does not mean ruling something out, however, and one Labour official who spoke to Nine Newspapers said: “This is what the Labour Party needs and wants – they need to fight for policies that show what they stand for.
‘It is within the framework of values. That is why Albo was reluctant to rule it out the other day. Look at what Albo has said, he has not ruled it out.
“This will give the government something important and positive to talk about; it will be an important talking point in the campaign.”
Governments often request policy assessments from Treasury officials without the intention of implementing changes.
However, the official said the model suggested Labour was preparing to introduce changes before the next election.
Labor asked the bureaucracy for a similar model before changing the Coalition’s Stage Three tax cuts earlier this year.