New housing taxes won’t deliver single new home, will break trust & increase rents

‍Hon Tim Wilson MP

Shadow Treasurer

Member for Goldstein

SENATOR ANDREW BRAGG

Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness

Shadow Minister for the Environment

Liberal Senator for New South Wales

STATEMENT

27 February 2026

NEW HOUSING TAXES WON’T DELIVER SINGLE NEW HOME, WILL BREAK TRUST & INCREASE RENTS

“Australia desperately needs more housing support, and in a break the glass moment Labor’s only solution is new taxes that will undermine investment in new housing to distract from their failure”, said Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson, today.

“Their $80 billion housing programmes have failed and Australia now receives 30,000 fewer homes each year than under the prior Coalition government, said Shadow Minister for Housing, Senator Andrew Bragg.

Mr Wilson and Senator Bragg’s comments follow reports in The Australian that Labor is flagging a new tax on losses by capping negative gearing.

“Negative gearing means investors don’t pay taxes on lost money –if the government taxes losses it means less investment in rental stock and rents must go up”, Mr Wilson said.

“This is another tax the government is floating they didn’t take to an election. The taxes Australians didn’t vote for keep mounting up from the family savings tax on unrealised capital gains, their super tax, higher top marginal income taxes, a housing tax on higher capital gains – and all to feed a $1 trillion debt”, Mr Wilson said.

“We have gone from 200,000 dwellings per annum between 2013 and 2022 to 170,000 per annum between 2022-2026. Labor are over 80,000 houses short of their own housing target, and now need to build 270,000 houses each year by mid-2029”, said Senator Bragg.

“The supply failure, combined with a higher population has cooked the Australian dream. Since Labor came to power, our population has gone up by 1.6 million”, said Senator Bragg.

Industry estimates that up to 50% of the cost of a new home goes in taxes, fees and regulatory costs.

New taxes on housing will only guarantee one thing: even fewer houses.

“This is also about trust. You cannot tell Australians before an election that you will maintain existing tax arrangements soften the public up for higher taxes once you’re in office”, Mr Wilson said.

“If they are now walking away from that commitment, Australians deserve to know why”.

“Australians need certainty. They need stable rules. And they need a government focused on increasing housing supply — not undermining confidence and investment”.

“It will destroy incentive to invest in a critical need at a time when more investment is needed. This will punish more than 2.3 million property investors across Australia”, said Senator Bragg.

“It will cut the supply of rental properties, push up rents and make our housing crisis worse”.

“First they want to increase Capital Gains Taxes on housing, and now, if the government thinks yet another new housing tax by changing negative gearing will solve the housing crisis, it will be their third big housing lie”.

“The first was the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund would solve the housing crisis, then we had 5% deposits”.

“The HAFF has been a white elephant and the 5% deposits have pump primed house prices for first home owners - making life harder, not easier”, said Senator Bragg.

“The last thing Australian housing needs is a marketing gimmick in the form of a new tax”, said Tim Wilson.

[Ends]

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