Treasurer Confident Anger Over Capital Gains and Negative Gearing Changes Will Subside

Jim Chalmers has said he’s confident the reforms introduced in his budget won’t be held against Labor at the next election.

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers takes questions from the media at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on May 13, 2026. Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

Australians will remember the “substance” of the government’s changes to wealth creation channels and anger about the issue will have subsided by the next election, the treasurer says.

This year’s budget restricts the practice of negative gearing—a major way for Australians to build their wealth—to just new properties with the aim of incentivising investment in new supply.