Portfolio — 15 June 2026

The Senate Legislation Committee opened its first day of hearings into the government's capital gains tax and negative gearing reforms on 15 June, marking the parliamentary scrutiny phase that follows House passage of the package on 5 June. The hearing crystallised the sharpest organised business opposition the reform has faced: the Council of Small Business Organisations, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group, and the Business Council appeared jointly to call on the government to abandon the changes, arguing the reforms would discourage investment at a time of economic need [TA-260615-treasu-d422657860da].

The alignment of all four peak bodies in a single unified call is a significant pressure signal for the portfolio heading into the committee's second and final scheduled hearing day.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino did not concede ground on the reform's structural purpose. He framed the legislation as correcting an existing distortion — taxing real gains rather than applying an arbitrary discount to nominal gains — and cited broad agreement among policy experts, economists, and bank chief economists that the current system skews investment decisions across asset classes [TA-260615-treasu-d422657860da].

That framing directly counters the business coalition's investment-deterrence argument by locating the distortion in the status quo rather than in the proposed change.

On legislative architecture, Mulino signalled that the Treasurer has identified venture capital and businesses with a low cost base as special circumstances warranting separate subsequent legislation beyond the overarching framework bill [TA-260615-treasu-d422657860da]. This is the clearest public articulation to date of a staged legislative approach, and it suggests the government is willing to use the Senate inquiry process to shape the reform's finer details without reopening its core structure.

Mulino also confirmed the government will engage in good faith on issues raised during the inquiry and through wider consultation already underway with venture capital and other sectors.

The portfolio's posture through the Senate phase is now legible: defend the reform's structural rationale while holding open the door to targeted legislative adjustments for specific sectors. The two-day hearing window is narrow, and the weight of business testimony on day one increases the pressure on that position heading into the committee's deliberations.