Pauline Hanson has vowed her One Nation party would reverse Labor’s contentious Budget tax policies on capital gains and discretionary trusts and restore negative gearing for all investors with a new limit of two properties.
From July 1, next year, negative gearing tax breaks for investors making a rental loss will be restricted to brand new properties exchanged after May 12, when Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered Labor’s fifth Budget.
But Senator Hanson has declared that should her party form government after the next Federal election, negative gearing would be made available for all investor landlords regardless of whether it was an established or new home, with the tax break restricted to two investment properties.
She argued Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s policies were unfair because they stopped younger Australians from being able to negatively gear an existing property, citing his luxury NSW Central Coast investment home as an example of uneven opportunity.
“Anthony Albanese has pulled the ladder up behind him on young people trying to break into the property market, protecting tax concessions for existing properties,” she said.
“This includes the Prime Minister’s own ocean view clifftop house in Copacabana, the hundreds of properties held by his own cabinet and the thousands of properties held by property tycoons.
“The Labor Government must answer whether members of cabinet who benefited from grandfathering negative gearing concessions recused themselves from voting on the measures given their conflict of interest.”
The Coalition wants to scrap Labor’s negative gearing policies and revert to a system where there was no limit on the number properties where an investor could offset their rental losses against their taxable income.
“The status quo of allowing unlimited taxpayer concessions for property tycoons was not working for Australians,” Senator Hanson said.
“The Liberal plan to back the broken model protecting property moguls makes no sense.”
One Nation is also planning to reverse Labor’s axing of the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount that from July 2027 will replace that concession with a minimum 30 per cent tax on gains.
Her party is also vowing to undo Labor’s plan to impose a new 30 per cent income tax on discretionary trusts from July 1, 2028.
Under Labor’s policy, discretionary trusts used by the likes of small businesses and wills to protect assets would only be able to escape the tax if they restructured into a fixed trust where distributions to beneficiaries could not be altered.
Testamentary discretionary trusts would also be taxed if the beneficiaries weren’t individuals or non-profit entities like charities.
“One Nation will never impose a death tax. We will never impose a tax on the family home,” Senator Hanson said.
“You should not have to spend your life paying for Labor’s spending addiction, then have them send your children the final bill.
“One Nation will restore the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount and scrap Labor’s proposed 30 per cent minimum tax on trusts.”
Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax legislation passed the Senate in June with support from the Greens.
But the Federal Government still needs the left-wing minor party’s support to pass its new taxes on discretionary trusts, with the Greens expressing concerns about private school fees being exempt.