Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026

Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (10:07): Today I want to talk about ambition. I want to talk about the ambition of young people and of families not only in my electorate but across this nation. When you talk to young people and families—Australians—what they will tell you is that they are ambitious to own a home.

What they will tell you is that they are ambitious to open the front door to that first house where they can plan their family, raise their young ones and set up for their future. What they are ambitious for is that great Australian dream of having the keys to a place that they can call their own, and can I say that on this side of the House we are ambitious for them and for that dream.

It's no secret that young people are facing many interconnected challenges as they build their careers, as they build their families and as they build their lives, from insecurity surrounding the rapidly changing job market to anxiety about climate change. Many young people describe their prospects as less certain and less secure—certainly in comparison to their parents at the same age.

Young people aren't immune from cost-of-living pressures. They're forking out more for groceries, fuel and bills, making it harder to save for those big life steps like buying a home. As we know, one of the biggest challenges facing this group is housing, whether it's renting or wanting to buy a home.

Accessing a rental property can be tough, with high demand, low vacancy rates and increasing rental payments. But buying a home often isn't an option—often isn't seen as a possibility—and many young people end up staying at home with mum and dad for much longer. That's why this isn't a challenge just for young people; it's one for mums and dads who are worried that their kids will never achieve what they were able to.

House prices have risen so much faster than wages over recent years. Since 1999, house prices have grown at more than twice the pace of average full-time wages, and homeownership among those aged 25 to 34 dropped by seven percentage points in the first 20 years of this century. The Reserve Bank recently released research which indicated that, 25 years ago, people younger than 40 made up 35 per cent of property investors, and, by 2023, this had fallen by about 20 per cent, while investors over the age of 60 had increased dramatically, from 12 per cent in 2000 to 28 per cent by 2023.

These figures highlight that, for many young people, that great Australian dream of owning your own home feels exactly like that—a dream; a fantasy; something intangible. For many, it's certainly not a goal that's achievable in the short term, and, for many, not in the long term either. That is something that, in this country, must change.

And that is what this bill is all about. Let's be very frank: the current situation is a bleak outlook for many young Australians. But that's one of the reasons why I am so incredibly proud of this 2026-27 budget.

This budget says: enough is enough. This budget says: enough of the intergenerational unfairness making it difficult for young people to get ahead financially and to get into the housing market. I know it's resonating with young people on the south side of Brisbane in my electorate.

Will, from Coopers Plains, told us: I'm happy about the changes because it means that I will be competing less with investors when I buy my first home. It means I'm able to get into the market sooner and have the same opportunities that my parents had … Amity, from Moorooka, agreed. They said: As a young person who is worried about affording to move out of my parents' house, affording rent let alone buying a house is a big worry for me.

The changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax will make owning my own home a possibility. And Will and Amity are not alone. There are so many Wills and so many Amitys who are relying on these bills to make sure that that dream can be realised once again.

So let's talk a little bit more about these changes and how they're not only giving young people hope, but will lead to more homeownership. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 implement part of what is the most significant housing reform and investment in Australia in more than 25 years.

Schedules 1 and 2 concern negative gearing and capital gains tax changes, and the reforms go to improving homeownership prospects for our young Australians. A key aspect is limiting negative gearing—a tax benefit that allows investors to offset property losses against their income—by making it apply to newly-built homes only. This change is intended to shift investor demand away from existing homes and towards new housing supply, increasing the number of dwellings available.

We've talked a lot about 40 years of not building enough supply. We've talked a lot about making sure that we're getting more tradespeople into trades: more chippies, more sparkies—more people who can build the homes of the future. We're investing in an ambitious target to build more homes and to build more social and affordable homes.

This is another arrow in the quiver to make sure that we are driving supply in the housing market, because it means that, if you're trying to invest in yourself, when it comes to negative gearing, you're also investing in us: you're investing in your neighbours; you're investing in Will and Amity; you're investing in our nation—and that's what is important when it comes to supply.

The change is intended to shift that domestic demand away, and, by encouraging construction, the policy aims to ease competition between investors and first home buyers in the established housing market. We've already heard the stories. We've heard the stories of young people going to auctions.

We've heard the stories of people being able to bid on their first home and get a bid through. It's got a real face, it's got a real impact, and it's already happening. Importantly, these changes are grandfathered, meaning that current investors can continue their existing arrangements, reducing disruption.

The government is also reforming CGT by replacing that flat 50 per cent discount with a system based on indexing gains to inflation, alongside the minimum tax rate. This ensures that investors are taxed only in their real inflation adjusted gains, rather than paper profits. The reform is intended to return CGT to its original purpose and remove distortions that have encouraged speculative investment in property over assets.

By reducing those tax incentives that favour speculation and increasing incentives to build, the reforms are expected to improve housing supply and to improve affordability. Over time this is expected to support around 75,000 additional Australians entering homeownership. That's 75,000 real, everyday people who can get into that first home.

Overall, the combined effect of these policies is to create a fairer and more balanced housing market, where investment contributes to increasing supply rather than making existing homes less affordable. These bills also implement the working Australians tax offset and an instant $1,000 standard tax deduction through schedules 3 and 4. The WATO for individuals earning income from work will begin in the 2027-28 financial year.

This offset will deliver a tax reduction to around 13.3 million working Australians, and it's a measure designed to help workers retain more earnings, to provide targeted cost-of-living relief and to encourage greater participation in our workforce. The $250 offset effectively increases the tax-free threshold for workers to $19,985, or up to $24,985 for those eligible for the low-income tax offset.

Millennials and gen Z are expected to make up around two-thirds of those who benefit, making this a targeted initiative to support younger generations in getting ahead. Importantly, this is a permanent structural reform, not a temporary measure. These reforms are designed to create a tax system that is more efficient, more equitable and easier to navigate, because, when a taxation system means that a nurse working shift work, a copper on the beat or a person looking after our youngest or our oldest Australians is paying more tax on their wages earned than someone earning from assets, it means the system is broken.

This government and these bills are here to fix it.