Is Labor's housing agenda — including its tax changes and deal with the Greens — a broken promise that will worsen the shortage?

Senators debated a Coalition-sponsored statement that Labor's housing plan is a broken promise, that the Prime Minister struck a "dirty deal" with the Greens to pass housing tax changes, and that the government is more than 100,000 homes short of its own target — needing about 270,000 homes built each year by mid-2029. The Coalition attacked the changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax as damaging to supply and unfair to families hit by death or divorce. Labor said its budget aims to level the playing field for first home buyers and blamed nine years of Coalition inaction. The Greens said both major parties caused the crisis and that Labor's changes didn't go far enough. The debate ran 30 minutes with no vote.

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📄 Senate Hansard, 24 Jun 2026 — Housing

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The strongest case each way

For · CoalitionAndrew Bragg said Labor has produced three versions of the same budget in a month, rushed the bill through without proper analysis, and struck a deal with the Greens with no consultation. He argued the tax changes will collapse housing supply, damage confidence, and unfairly penalise families who lose grandfathered benefits through a death or divorce.

For · CoalitionSusan McDonald and Leah Blyth said Labor's spending has driven up inflation and interest rates, making homes harder to afford, and that its 5 per cent deposit scheme pushed up prices. They said Treasury documents show the measures will build 35,000 fewer homes, and that migration far outpaces new construction.

Against · Government (Labor)Ellie Whiteaker and Charlotte Walker said Labor's $47 billion plan is working toward 1.2 million new homes, 55,000 social and affordable rentals and 100,000 homes for first home buyers, with an estimated 75,000 extra first home buyers over a decade. They blamed nine years of Coalition inaction and said reforms level the playing field so buying a first home isn't harder than buying a fifth.

Against · Australian GreensBarbara Pocock said both major parties caused the crisis through decades of unfair investor tax perks, with house prices up 400 per cent since 1989. She said Labor's changes don't go far enough — capping grandfathering to one property would have freed $33 billion for public housing — but the Coalition's ideas of raiding superannuation are worse.