SA Unions welcome budget changes which deliver for workers and young people

SA Unions welcome measures in last night’s federal budget which will make Australia’s housing system fairer for workers and young people.

SA Unions Secretary Dale Beasley said that changes to negative gearing and Capital Gains Tax will help make home ownership a reality for the next generation of Australian workers.  

Unions led the push to reform these Howard-era tax breaks, which have seen house prices skyrocket more than 400% since 1999 – almost double the growth of wages in the same period.  

Reforms to negative gearing and Capital Gain Tax will level the playing field by ensuring that property investors pay similar rates of tax to workers saving for a house deposit out of their hard-earned wages. 

Beasley also highlighted budget measures which modernise the superannuation performance test by removing unnecessary barriers which have prevented much-needed investment in social and affordable housing.   

The new $250 Working Australians Tax Offset will also deliver important cost-of-living relief to Australian workers who are feeling the brunt of inflation caused by Trump’s war with Iran.

Quotes attributable to SA Unions Secretary Dale Beasley:

“This budget delivers hope for workers who have been locked out of the housing market thanks to tax breaks which give an unfair leg up to professional landlords who already own multiple homes.” 

“These changes finally tackle an unfair system which saw professional landlords paying significantly lower rates of tax than people who earn a wage.”  

“It’s a sign that Australia is becoming a fairer country when savings made by reforming negative gearing and Capital Gains Tax get handed back to workers through vital cost-of-living relief.”   

“This is a budget that prioritises the interests of working people over the investor class and the mega-rich.”