u/Crafty_Yard_4985

Amid a growing backlash against key measures of Jim Chalmers’ fifth budget, the survey of 1210 voters across every state and territory revealed a record high 66 per cent of Australians ­believe the country is “heading in the wrong direction”. The most disillusioned were voters in Victoria and NSW.

In the wake of the budget, Australians continue to hold negative views on both the short-term and long-term strength of the economy. A record 47 per cent of voters believe the economy will get worse over the next three years, while 60 per cent of voters fear the economy will get much worse over three months and 12 months.

The top 10 unprompted concerns and priorities identified by voters were led by the cost of living (64 per cent), housing affordability (36 per cent), immigration and population (16 per cent), crime (16 per cent) and government performance (13 per cent).

“The national mood continues to worsen, with 61 per cent feeling more negative than positive – the highest level of pessimism since April 2025. Only 35 per cent are feeling more positive than negative at this time,” the SEC Newgate research analysis said.

It seems that pretty much every Aussie investor will look at a high-growth tech stock or a mid-cap disrupter and realise the tax drag on their eventual exit is now significantly higher. Why take on the binary risk of capital growth when the government takes a much larger bite of any upside, which, by the way, isn’t guaranteed? Reliable, franked dividend yields instantly become the path of least resistance.

That might sound OK at first, but it pours petrol on the problem of the ASX’s historic underperformance compared to the US. Australia’s dividend imputation system has long incentivised companies to return profits to shareholders to pass on franking credits, rather than retaining those profits to fund R&D or global scaling. By making capital growth even less tax-effective for individuals, this budget doubles down on Australia’s structural bias. It essentially tells the market to stop trying to build the next global tech or medical giant, and instead allocate capital right back into banks, miners, and legacy infrastructure. It entrenches the ASX as a low-growth, high-yield defensive sidenote.

The government also framed the changes to negative gearing and CGT on established dwellings as a massive win for first-home buyers, while the ripple effects will likely achieve the opposite.

Because existing properties are grandfathered, current investors will simply refuse to sell. Selling means giving up a precious, and now extinct, tax shelter, while facing a harsher CGT regime on whatever asset they buy next. Transaction volumes on established homes will dry up, choking market liquidity.

Roger Montgomery

The Australian

Albo absorbed five months of intense blowback last year on taxing unrealised capital gains in SMSF before caving to public pressure. Albanese forfeited even more public trust before dropping his resistance to a royal commission on the Bondi terrorist attacks.

Now there is the Tuesdays bombshell budget that has broken numerous election promises about taxes.

Albanese and Chalmers now in effect say, We must lie to voters about our intentions to avoid a scare campaign.

Now the PM can’t explain how raising tax on shares helps housing affordability.

Asked by finfluencer @tashinvests “Why were the capital gains tax changed to all assets rather than just residential property” In his tangential waffle, Albo accidently explained why shares shouldn’t be taxed like property!

How can the Prime Minister of Australia be unable to verbalise a plausible rationale for the federal Budgets headline measure more than 48 hours after the budget was released?

NSW Premier Chris Minns has blasted the Albanese government for failing to hand back bigger tax cuts to income earners, warning it will need to do more for those in the top tax bracket in future.

On Wednesday, Minns said income-earners paying the highest marginal tax rate of 47 per cent were effectively working half the week for the federal government, pointing to a need to combat bracket creep with bigger income tax cuts.

Aus Fin Review

The federal government’s changes to CGT has sparked fierce debate. Tech and venture capital entrepreneurs argue these moves will add one of the heaviest capital gains regimes on top of existing taxes which are among the highest in the OECD, stifling local innovation and making Australia "uncompetitive by design". Others praise the new taxes for improving “fairness”.

Australia relies on just two exports- iron ore and coal. Will Albo’s new taxes foster innovation and improve our international competitiveness? Interesting to see how it pans out.

Up until a couple of months ago Albo was still claiming that fiddling with taxes wouldn’t do anything to improve the housing supply for first home buyers. This is what he said on a 2GB radio interview:

“My problem with proposed changes to negative gearing is that it won't assist supply. And, indeed, the work that the Property Council has done is that it would dampen supply. And I don't want to do anything that impacts the supply of housing"

Hmmmmmm.

I think most people can see that the budget is just a tax grab, there are no less migrants and its no easier or cheaper to build more houses. It seems ‘tax reform’ really just means ‘more taxes’.