On the second episode of What’s the Point?, Richard Denniss discusses the government’s long-overdue changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax and the ongoing media hysteria around Australia’s housing market.
This episode was recorded on Friday 3 July.
Host: Richard Denniss, co-Chief Executive Officer, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss
Host: Anna Chang, Managing Editor, The Point // @annachang
Show notes:
The Wrap: After a decades-long fight, housing tax reform becomes reality by Matt Grudnoff, The Point (July 2026)
Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions
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Of all the stupidity Australians have accepted as “normal”, our relationship with house prices may be among the most ridiculous. This nation is in the grips of a media panic over a small blip in house prices. This blip apparently deserves wall-to-wall coverage and dire warnings of impending doom.
Older Australians have seen their wealth grow eight times faster than younger generations over the past two decades, but a Senate inquiry has heard housing inequality is no longer just a generational issue. The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) told a public hearing in Sydney that the issue extended well beyond the divide between younger and older Australians.
Australia’s rental crisis is a policy choice, not an unavoidable consequence of market forces, a Senate inquiry has heard, with advocates arguing governments are failing to deliver the stability, affordability and security people deserve from a home.
Australia's largest gas exporters are set to receive an unexpected $18 billion revenue windfall over the next year, due to the fallout from conflict in the Middle East, reigniting calls for the Albanese government to introduce a 25 per cent tax on gas exports
