Portfolio — 11 May 2026

The Housing Minister released two coordinated communications on 11 May anchoring the government's Budget 2026 housing agenda. The centrepiece is a $2 billion enabling infrastructure package — covering water, sewerage, energy, roads and footpaths — to unlock up to 65,000 new homes, with funding conditional on states maintaining pro-supply planning settings. A joint media release added significant tax reform: negative gearing on residential property restricted to new builds from 1 July 2027, the 50 percent CGT discount replaced by inflation-adjusted indexation, and a 30 percent minimum rate applied to realised gains, projected to benefit around 75,000 homeowners over ten years.

Together, the two releases present a three-track strategy — supply-side infrastructure, tax-side demand correction, and ongoing rental support — that the minister is explicitly positioning as a generational shift in housing policy.