Anthony Albanese concedes CGT reform is ‘difficult’ amid poor poll result
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The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has conceded the government’s plans to scrap the capital gains tax discount in favour of returning to an inflation-adjusted model is “difficult” but has defended the 2026 budget as a necessary move to rebalance taxes on income from work compared to earnings from assets.
Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne alongside Housing Minister Clare O’Neil on Sunday morning, Albanese insisted the changes would help first-home buyers and pointed out that “tax reform” had long been pushed for among the media.
“What we’re doing is delivering tax reform, real tax reform that treats in a fair way income that people earn from their work, better aligns it with income that people legitimately earn from assets and from their wealth that they own,” he said.
The context: The first national poll since the 2026 Budget was unveiled on Sunday morning by News Corp, conducted by strategic campaign agency Wolf+Smith for Amplify. Amplify was founded by venture capital giant Paul Bassat, who has been a vocal critic of the CGT change and the potential implications for startups. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has recognised the different position for startups and VC and is consulting with the sector.
The poll found 51% of people are less likely to trust the government due to its tax changes. The changes directly contradict Albanese’s pre-election promises not to amend CGT or negative gearing, which almost 70% of respondents said was a critical position when determining their view of the government’s policies.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor told Sky News on Sunday morning he would support the government’s $250 Working Australians Tax Offset, but that bracket creep would quickly erode the benefit. He has indicated that his own policy, to index the income tax brackets, would cost $22.5 billion over the forward estimates. The Coalition has seized on the budget to accuse the government of broken promises and raise concerns around death taxes and taxes on the family home.
What they said: “This is a difficult reform, but it’s one that people have spoken about for a long period of time,” Albanese said in Melbourne.
“People have said that we need tax reform in this country,” he said.
“What we’re doing here is delivering tax reform. But with a clear objective tax reform to better align those income from assets compared with income from working. But importantly as well, tax reform that will result in 75,000 Australians getting access to their first home.”
Earlier on Sunday, Chalmers said “the government did come to a different view” since ruling out the changes, but said he thinks “some people, hopefully a lot of people, will focus on the substance of what we are trying to do here”.
The source: Anthony Albanese press conference
