Anglicare Australia has welcomed the Federal Government’s reforms to the Capital Gains Tax discount and negative gearing in tonight’s Budget, describing them as some of the most significant steps to tackle inequality in decades.
Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said the Government deserved credit for taking on difficult tax reform.
“For years, governments have avoided touching unfair tax concessions that deepen inequality and drive up housing costs. Tonight’s Budget changes that. Reforming the Capital Gains Tax discount is a significant and overdue step toward a fairer tax system.
“These reforms recognise that Australia cannot keep subsidising wealth accumulation while millions of people struggle to afford the basics. This principle matters: governments should not be using the tax system to fuel speculative investment at the expense of everyone else.
“The Budget also makes other strides on tax fairness, increasing the tax free threshold and giving relief to people on the lowest incomes. Polling conducted for Anglicare Australia in March shows that 69% of voters back this change.”
Ms Chambers said the reforms would help slow the growth in housing inequality over time, but warned they were not enough on their own to solve the housing crisis.
“The biggest gap in tonight’s Budget is the lack of new investment in public and community housing. Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved without building many more homes people on low incomes can actually afford. We still need to see a major expansion of public and community housing if we want to tackle this crisis.”
Anglicare Australia will continue to call for targeted cost of living support for people surviving on the lowest incomes.
“Not everyone feels the cost of living crisis equally. People on low incomes spend most of their money on essentials like rent, food and electricity. They have no buffer left. Without an increase to JobSeeker and related payments, many people will continue to face impossible choices every day – although it is heartening the see the Government flag major reforms to employment services.
“If done right, these would give badly needed relief to people on a hamster wheel of activities that are not leading to paid work.
“This Budget takes inequality more seriously than we have seen in a very long time. The tax reforms announced tonight matter, and they will make a difference. The next step must be direct investment in social housing and properly supporting people on the lowest incomes.”