The Albanese government’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes were being promoted by Housing Minister Clare O’Neil last week when she told a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ forum that she owned just a single property.
‘I own one home,’ O’Neil wrote, ‘the one I live in with my husband, three kids, two dogs, chickens and an ant colony.’ She then provided a link to the parliamentary interests register, which proved it.
But what O’Neil didn’t mention, in the grilling from social media users, was that less than three years ago she and her family earned a sizable profit from the property tax discounts her government is now getting rid of for younger generations.
O’Neil sold an investment property in 2023 for $1.375million, the Australian Financial Review’s Rear Window column reported on Thursday.
She made a $375,000 capital gain on the property – a two-bedroom East Melbourne apartment that she bought for $1million in 2014.
She and her husband also rented the property out in 2021 for $990-a-week. The AFR reported that rental income was also negatively geared.
In the Federal Budget last month, the government announced it was abolishing negative gearing – where owners received a tax benefit for outlaying costs that exceed their profits – on all properties, except for new builds.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers also announced the government would scrap the 50 per cent capital gains tax (CGT) discount, in favour of adjusting CGT to inflation along with a minimum 30 per cent tax rate.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil (above) told an online community she only owns one property, her family home, but was found to have recently sold an investment property
O’Neil in 2023 made a $375,000 capital gain on the property – a two-bedroom East Melbourne apartment (above)
The changes, which will kick in from July 1, 2027, passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, but are likely to be held up for weeks while the Senate holds an inquiry.
The Daily Mail sought comment from O’Neil on her history of benefiting from the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing.
We do not suggest any wrongdoing – simply that her investment history, which she did not mention, puts quite a different spin on the Housing Minister’s answer that she owns only her family’s principal place of residence.
O’Neil defended Labor’s property tax changes in a fiery interview earlier this week.
While speaking with ABC’s Insiders host David Speers, O’Neil insisted the changes were part of a broader strategy to level the playing field for investors and address the root causes of Australia’s housing affordability crisis.
She also flatly rejected criticism that the government was unfairly targeting investors.
‘Investors flooded out of shares and went into property, and that’s brought us to where we are today,’ she said.
‘…The tax system should not create and drive investment decisions for people.
While O’Neil’s online claim of owning one home is correct, it leaves out the massive profit she made from recently selling an apartment – and how she benefited from the capital gains tax discount
Several other ministers, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured with O’Neil), have admitted to using the soon-to-be-scrapped tax benefits
O’Neil made a tidy profit when she sold the investment property which was fattened with the tax break her government will scrap for younger generations
‘We want a neutral platform for investors to make good decisions.’
She is not alone in the government to have benefited from the previous property tax regime. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese himself bought a beach house at Copacabana, on the NSW Central Coast, in 2024, which he rents out.
When asked by Sky News, shortly after the tax changes were announced, if he had negatively geared any of his properties, Albanese said: ‘Oh, look, I have in the in the past, absolutely.’
‘But all my things are declared in the normal way. I’m subject to all of that, but in a transparent way, like everyone else.’
Albanese did not clarify whether his current investment property was negatively geared, but he did recently declare rental income.
At least 15 cabinet ministers own investment properties and 10 have declared rental income, meaning they will remain eligible for negative gearing.
