MEDIA STATEMENT
2 June 2026
Australians are only just starting to realise what Labor is quietly attempting to do to the tax system, and why so many investors, small businesses and industry leaders are becoming alarmed.
For decades, Australians were told that if they owned an asset before 19 September 1985, it would not be subject to Capital Gains Tax.
That principle has stood for more than 40 years.
Now Labor is dragging pre-1985 assets into the CGT tax net.
This is not some minor technical tweak. This is a breach of trust by the Albanese Government.
Australians make long-term investment decisions based on long-standing rules. Families structure businesses, farms, investments and retirement plans based on those rules. Now Labor is moving the goalposts, yet again.
What is deeply concerning is that most Australians have no idea this is even happening.
Labor did not take these changes to the election. They were not upfront about the consequences. Yet we are now seeing growing alarm bells from small businesses, investors, the tech sector and industries that rely on long-term investment certainty.
This is becoming a pattern under Labor.
First it was the attack on unrealised gains in superannuation.
Now Labor are making changes to Capital Gains Tax, negative gearing, trust structures and investment settings that could fundamentally reshape how Australians invest, save and build wealth.
At a time when Australians are already being smashed by soaring rents, housing shortages, high interest rates and record business insolvencies, Labor is creating even more uncertainty.
And the consequences will not just be felt by wealthy Australians, because if you punish investment, you get less investment.
That means fewer homes built, fewer rental properties, higher rents, less confidence in the economy and higher costs for everyday Australians.
Australia needs more housing supply, more investment and more confidence. Instead, Labor is creating fear and uncertainty with hidden toxic taxes that continue creeping further and further into the economy.
We are already seeing warnings from sectors like biotechnology and advanced manufacturing that investment could leave Australia altogether because of sovereign risk and policy unpredictability.
Labor keeps pretending these are isolated technical changes, but Australians are beginning to see the bigger picture.
This is a government addicted to spending, running out of money and now looking for new ways to tax aspiration, investment and success.
Australians deserve honesty about what Labor is planning.
They deserve certainty.
And they deserve a government that encourages investment and growth instead of quietly undermining it.
In the 2022 election campaign, the Coalition warned that it would not be easy under Albanese, and now Australians are feeling that cold hard reality every single day.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au
