Negative bias: Confusion reigns over the government’s position as Chalmers suggests who appointed the council

There is confusion over Labour’s position on negative gearing after Anthony Albanese again refused to rule out future changes, while Treasurer Jim Chalmers appeared to confirm the government had ordered the modeling that ignited the political storm.

Mr Albanese capped a chaotic week with another round of vague and non-committal answers as he addressed the Government’s plans for tax relief.

Just a day after confirming that Labor would not take action to withdraw concessions for the next federal election over fears that housing supply would fall, the Prime Minister refused to close the door on accepting any changes after that close.

Asked whether the pre- and post-election negativity would remain intact, Mr Albanese turned to talk about Labor’s existing $32 billion housing agenda, key parts of which have stalled in the Senate.

“Just for clarity, what we do is what we submit to Parliament,” he said on Friday.

Mr Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed this week that Treasury officials were planning to make changes to tax write-offs, but declined to specifically confirm who had requested them.

Mr. Albanese suggested on Thursday that the Treasury had taken on the role model of its own accord when he said the officials were not “schoolchildren being told what to do by teachers at the front of the class.”

“The Treasury doesn’t need to be instructed,” he said.

But in his speech in Beijing on Friday, Dr. Chalmers revealed that the government had requested the work – without explicitly saying so.

“When it comes to negative changes in debt, it is not at all unusual for governments or treasurers to seek advice on contentious issues that are in the public eye, including in Parliament.”

“This is not unusual for treasurers,” said Dr. Chalmers.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor seized on the comments, saying either Mr Albanese was lying or Dr. Chalmers kept it secret.

Dr. Chalmers reiterated his statement earlier this week that the government has an ambitious housing agenda and that changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax “are not part of it”.

“We have made it clear that our policy is to increase supply,” he said.

“Our policy is to invest $32 billion in this effort. And these changes (to negative gearing), which we receive advice on from time to time because they are public knowledge or enshrined in Parliament, are not part of that policy.”

The question of who requested the modeling is significant because it concerns how serious Labor is about reviving a version of the policies that Bill Shorten pursued in the failed 2016 and 2019 elections.

Treasury officials continually develop policies as part of their routine oversight of the national economy.

But if they were explicitly told by the government to consider negative gearing changes to the options for dealing with the housing crisis, that would suggest Labor is genuinely open to it.

The bombshell decision to change the stage three tax cuts was based on Treasury advice given by Dr. Chalmers ordered late last year as the government sought answers to the cost of living crisis.

WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti said leaving negative gearing untouched was the right move.

“We need more housing in this state and we don’t want to change attitudes that would impact housing,” she said.

“We want to ensure we continue to put more money into housing and continue to incentivize those building or investing in housing in Western Australia.”