Anthony Albanese defends budget after breaking negative gearing, CGT promises | ABC NEWS

We changed our position over a period of time. We've thrown everything at the housing market. We've had our increased public and social housing through the Housing Australia Future Fund. We've had our build-to-rent scheme to encourage private rentals. We've had our shared equity scheme. But it still wasn't enough to get young people in particular into the housing market. And what this change will do is allow 75,000 young Australians to buy their own home. The Australian dream of owning your own home is something that was increasingly disappearing. And importantly, that creates social dislocation. If you have two classes of people, homeowners and non-homeowners, permanently shut out of the housing market, then that doesn't do anything for social cohesion. So we wanted young people to have a crack. We were convinced that this was the right thing to do. We made sure as well, could we do it in a way that protected existing investors? Yes, we have, by grandfathering the negative gearing. And I think the principle is pretty clear, which is you can still negatively gear a property. The difference between the change in the system when it comes in is as well as being able to invest in an investment property to help yourself and your future income and wealth, you'll be helping the nation if you invest in a new home rather than an existing home that's already there.

No, I think it's a matter of getting the balance right and doing what's fair. We've done that by grandfathering so that if you had, even if you bought a house on Saturday and it's contracted, then the existing system that was in place when you bought that home will stay. The difference is going forward, it will change the balance so that that young person you spoke about when they go to an auction and trying to buy their own home instead of competing with investors as well as other home buyers, that won't occur and that levels the playing field a bit because at the moment so many stories, not just young people but their parents and grandparents will say that my daughter or son went along to an auction and they're competing with someone who has an advantage because the tax system's going to help them be able to bid higher because that just leads to a higher deduction.

Well, they are a rabble and they have not surprised and they just said no to everything because they say no to everything. And that's what they've been doing for four years.

This was about doing the right thing by the country. So that when you look back and you go, 'Is this the right thing to do?' People will say yes. We firmly believe that. Whereas the changes that John Howard made in 1999, of course before 1985 capital wasn't taxed at all. Paul Keating brought that in. John Howard brought in this change, and what that's done as well as distort where investment goes towards less productive activity. Now, one of the things that the changes in capital gains tax will do is to bring back that productive side of investment as well, whether it's equities or other forms of investment, and stop the distortion that's there in the market at the moment.