Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

():  I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice asked by the Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Waters) today relating to taxation.

Housing is the single biggest contributor to the recent inflation spike. It's not just the Greens saying it. The RBA governor yesterday singled out credit growth, which we know is largely property investor loans, as a cause for concern. It's more than concerning; it's fundamentally unfair.

It is unfair that this government is supporting property investors to outbid first home buyers weekend after weekend. It is unfair that investor borrowing has reached a record-high $40 billion in the last three months of last year. Coincidently, that was exactly the same three months that immediately followed Labor's five per cent deposit scheme kicking in. It is unfair that investors are flooding into the market at record rates and that Labor keeps giving them massive tax handouts to help them push up house prices.

According to the Treasury, an astonishing 54 per cent of the capital gains tax handout goes to the wealthiest one per cent. Just four per cent of people that get it are under 35. This is the most unfair handout in the Commonwealth Tax Code and it is exacerbating inequality by pushing homeownership further and further out of reach for those young people who are desperate to buy their first home.

Yet this Labor government refuses to cut those unfair tax handouts for property investors and to give renters and first home buyers a real shot at buying a home. No more delays or excuses: the government needs to address the housing crisis with real action. Scrap the capital gains tax discount. Scrap negative gearing and do it in this upcoming budget. While they're at it, they could also address the outrageous fuel tax credit which gives cheap diesel to big mining companies. Getting rid of that absolute joke of a handout would free up about $8 billion a year, which could be used for cost-of-living relief for households. If Labor is going to cut spending to deal with inflation, then maybe they should start by looking at that spending that goes into the pockets of the one per cent and straight into the pockets of the big corporations ruining the planet and fuelling the climate crisis. Have they got the guts? We'll find out. (Time expired)