One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has launched a broadside at Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ tax agenda, promising to unwind Labor’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax while accusing the Albanese government of putting Australian homes, savings and family wealth at risk.

In a statement released on 19 October, Hanson said One Nation would restore the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount, allow investors to negatively gear up to two residential investment properties and scrap Labor’s proposed 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trusts.

“Dr Jim Chalmers is experimenting on the Australian economy, and everyday Australians are his guinea pigs,” Hanson said.

“He’s playing with your home, your rent, your business and your savings. When his experiments fail, Australians will pay dearly.”

The attack comes after the Albanese government embarked on its biggest rewrite of property and investment taxation in years.

Under changes announced in the May budget, negative gearing for residential property purchased after Budget night will, from 1 July 2027, generally be restricted to newly built homes. Existing investments held before 7.30 pm on 12 May 2026 are grandfathered and retain their current treatment.

The government is also replacing the longstanding 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with inflation-based indexation for gains accruing from July 2027, together with a 30 per cent minimum tax on real capital gains. New-build investors will retain a choice between the existing discount and the new regime.

Labor argues the package will redirect investor incentives towards new housing supply and give first-home buyers a better chance of competing for established homes.

Chalmers has said the reforms will help an estimated 75,000 additional Australians into home ownership over the next decade, while the government says existing investors are protected from retrospective changes.

Hanson rejects that argument.

She said One Nation would retain negative gearing, but cap it at two investment properties per taxpayer rather than returning to unlimited concessions.

“Australians should be able to work hard, invest and get ahead,” Hanson said.

“For many young Australians, an investment property was one way they could get a foot into the property market.”

Her position puts One Nation between Labor and the Coalition on negative gearing. Hanson argues Labor has gone too far by limiting future concessions to new builds, while also criticising the previous system for allowing investors with large property portfolios to claim unlimited tax deductions.

“The status quo of allowing unlimited taxpayer concessions for property tycoons was not working for Australians,” she said.

“One Nation would continue to allow Australians to negatively gear up to two investment properties.”

Hanson also singled out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, accusing Labor of “pulling the ladder up” on younger Australians while politicians and established property owners retain investments purchased under the previous rules.

Because Labor’s changes are grandfathered, properties acquired before the May 2026 cut-off continue to receive existing negative-gearing treatment. That protection applies to existing investors generally, not only politicians.

Hanson nevertheless called on cabinet ministers who own investment properties to disclose whether they recused themselves from decisions affecting negative gearing and capital gains tax because of potential conflicts of interest.

There is no suggestion in the material released by One Nation that any minister breached cabinet or parliamentary conflict-of-interest rules.

The party is also promising to reverse Labor’s capital gains tax changes and reinstate the 50 per cent discount.

That would unwind a reform Chalmers says is designed to tax real gains rather than inflation while reducing what Labor regards as an excessive tax advantage for asset income compared with wages.

The government’s legislation provides for the cost base of investments to be indexed for inflation before tax is calculated, meaning investors would generally be taxed on gains above inflation rather than nominal gains.

One Nation has framed the measure much more starkly, arguing it will deter investment and make it harder for Australians to build wealth.

The political fight is also expanding beyond property.

Last week the government introduced legislation for a 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028, arguing some high-income Australians use trusts to split income among lower-taxed beneficiaries in ways unavailable to ordinary wage earners.

The government says more than 95 per cent of individual taxpayers receive no trust income and more than 90 per cent of small businesses would be unaffected in any given year. Fixed trusts, charities, special disability trusts, superannuation funds and some other categories would be exempt.

But the proposal has triggered strong opposition from business groups, tax professionals, the Coalition and Greens, with concerns about restructuring costs and its effect on family businesses.

Industry estimates cited during the debate have suggested hundreds of thousands of small businesses could have to review or restructure their affairs.

Hanson said One Nation would scrap the measure.

She also accused Labor of mishandling the Australian Taxation Office’s proposed move away from accepting direct credit-card payments.

That issue became politically damaging for the government earlier this month after it emerged ministers had known for months that the ATO was considering phasing out credit-card payments following changes to card surcharging rules.

The government ultimately intervened and agreed to fund a transition period, with the ATO continuing to accept credit cards until 30 June 2027.

Hanson said the episode demonstrated why businesses should be wary of further tax reform.

“They botched the ATO credit card ban and lied about their involvement,” she alleged.

Labor disputes the characterisation that it misled Australians, saying it worked with the ATO and business groups before extending the transition period.

Hanson’s statement also pointed to the government’s expanded 5 per cent Deposit Scheme, claiming more than 1,100 participants were now estimated to owe more on their homes than the properties were worth.

Reserve Bank analysis released this month confirms that recent buyers and borrowers using higher loan-to-value ratios — including participants in the government’s 5 per cent scheme — are more likely than established borrowers to be in negative equity following recent house-price falls.

However, the RBA said less than 1 per cent of Australian mortgage borrowers overall are estimated to be in negative equity, and said risks to financial stability from first-home buyers in the scheme remained limited.

The government says the expanded deposit program has helped more than 102,000 first-home buyers since October 2025 and more than 280,000 since Labor came to government.

Hanson went further in her attack by warning Australians that their family home, superannuation and inheritances could eventually become tax targets.

“One Nation will never impose a death tax. We will never impose a tax on the family home,” she said.

“My warning is that your family home, your super, and what you leave your children will be in the firing line next.”

Labor is presenting its reforms as a shift away from concessions that favour established investors and higher-income households, arguing the savings can fund tax cuts for workers and improve access to home ownership.

One Nation is positioning itself differently: protecting property investment and family wealth while accepting a cap of two negatively geared investment properties rather than an unrestricted system.

For Hanson, the political message is clear.

“One Nation will end this disastrous experiment and reverse Chalmers’ destructive budget experiments,” she said.

“You should not have to spend your life paying for Labor’s spending addiction, then have them send your children the final bill.”

With negative gearing, capital gains tax and trusts now all under active political contest, the argument over who should carry more of Australia’s tax burden — wage earners, property investors, businesses or holders of accumulated wealth — is shaping as one of the sharpest economic battles of the current parliamentary term.

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