The CGT discount removal is exactly what we've been asking for, so why is everyone losing their minds?
For years the conversation has been "tax the wealthy, fix housing, stop letting investors exploit the system." Well, that's exactly what removing the CGT discount does, and suddenly everyone's got an opinion about how terrible it is.
A few things worth understanding:
The CGT discount had to be removed across all asset classes, shares, property, everything. If they'd only targeted property, investors would've just shifted capital into shares and received the same discount on exit. That's not really a reform, that's a game of whack a mole.
The switch to an indexation method isn't punishing ordinary Australians. It's closing a loophole that disproportionately benefited people holding large investment portfolios. Real inflation-adjusted gains still get favourable treatment. It's pure gains above inflation that get taxed more heavily. That's kind of how it should work?
On negative gearing, the deeper issue is that housing stopped being a basic human right and became a business opportunity. The moment that shift happened the entire market reoriented around investor returns rather than housing people. Wages and property prices diverged almost exactly when these incentives were turbocharged and that's not a coincidence.
Nobody's coming for your super or your family home. This is targeting people who've been using the tax system to accumulate wealth at the expense of people just trying to find somewhere to live.
We asked for this. Let's not pretend we didn't.