The Greens don’t want you to succeed. They want to take your money so they can turn Australia into a socialist nightmare. Labor’s plans aren’t far behind them. It’s a case of the Mensheviks (who wanted to use legal trade union means to socialism) versus the Bolsheviks (who wanted to overthrow the state).
But as Adam Bandt has indicated, he looks forward to a ‘golden era of reform’ in minority government where the Greens’ stated policy priority will be to take ‘action on negative gearing and [the] capital gains tax discount’.
Can we be sure Labor will reject the Greens’ plans?
Reports emerged in September last year that ‘Treasury had investigated a potential overhaul of the tax concessions awarded to property owners’. Mr Albanese faced accusations of hiding plans to change the policy on negative gearing during the second debate when he claimed that he had not ‘commissioned’ Treasury to conduct modelling.
However, Treasurer Jim Chalmers admitted he asked Treasury for ‘advice’ and a ‘view’ on tax concessions for property owners which was ‘different’ from the question asked of the Prime Minister. Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor then claimed that the Prime Minister ‘lied’ about his plans to remove negative gearing.
Negative gearing routinely pops up on the policy radar, but its removal is a nonsense idea that fires up the Greens and Labor’s left. They think investors will just continue investing in the property market if negative gearing is cancelled. Mr Dutton argued last week that ‘cutting negative gearing would worsen the rental market’.
Negative gearing is an inherently risky investment strategy that the Greens love to hate.
After a week of controversy about negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts, can we trust a Labor minority government not to go the while hog and implement the Greens’ death tax?
Under the Greens’ ‘Economic Justice’ plan, they support ‘the implementation of a tax on dynastic wealth’ – otherwise known as a death tax. These abhorrent taxes seek to double tax assets already taxed during the owner’s lifetime.
With the way how-to-vote cards are emerging from the minor conservative parties, backed up by the latest Newspoll results, we are heading towards a Labor minority government backed by the Greens. This will effectively hand the election to our Prime-Alt Minister in waiting, Adam Bandt.
Are you ready for ‘Green Death’ taxes? Good luck making Australia great again if Labor and the Greens get in.
Dr Michael de Percy @FlaneurPolitiq is The Spectator Australia’s Canberra Press Gallery Correspondent. All opinions in this article are the author’s own.
