Young Australians have dismissed the Labor Budget designed to assist them, while baby boomers have expressed fury over tax changes targeting their savings. Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the budget as a radical landmark to address intergenerational wealth and improve housing opportunities for the youth.
Boomers Criticise Tax Changes
Sydney resident Bob, 75, strongly criticised the government's adjustments to capital gains tax and negative gearing. 'I don't understand this emphasis on the intergenerational transfer of wealth,' he told Daily Mail. 'Families work hard. My parents worked hard, my wife and I worked hard and we accumulated some money - why shouldn't we be able to transfer that to our children? What the government wants to do is take that money from me and spread it out.'
Bob questioned whether the changes would genuinely spread wealth, but was certain they would discourage property investment and drive up rents. 'For me, as an investor, to buy into a property and not get the benefits of negative gearing and capital gains, it's not something I'm going to be interested in.' He also slammed the new $250 tax offset for 13 million working Australians, calling it 'just a coffee a week - but if you want a croissant? Sorry!'
Millennials and Gen Z Unimpressed
Millennials and Gen Z Australians echoed these concerns, telling Daily Mail they remain terrified about the future, with the budget doing little to calm them. The tax changes are projected to raise $77 billion over a decade, but Eastern Suburbs local Sabrina Minford, 27, was unimpressed. 'It's not going to make any difference at all. That $5 doesn't even pay for a coffee,' she said. 'It's really scary and spooky. I'm already paying $500 a week in rent and that's not including my bills. It's a scary thought.' Despite changes to negative gearing predicted to lower housing demand, Minford said home ownership hasn't entered her mind.
Elsa Charlwood, paying $465 a week in rent—nearly half her weekly wage of $1,000—said the negative gearing changes are widely expected to cause rents to rise. 'I'm really worried (about rent increases),' she said. 'I think it will go up in January and that's the hardest bit, when my lease ends. They do it on purpose. In January it's impossible to get a place around here so you're stuck and can't go anywhere else. I think it's going to go up to $500. That will be near-impossible to make it work. I don't know how it's going to be possible for young kids to save and get a place and build a future for themselves here.'
Couples Struggle with Home Ownership
Couple Zane Marolt, 26, and Alex Marks, 23, described renting as a 'tough situation'. Marolt noted that baby boomers had no idea how lucky they were in the 1960s and 1970s when buying their first homes. 'Comparative to the wages, it's a lot harder now - and it's not going to get any easier,' he said. Marks added that the tax breaks in the budget wouldn't 'lessen the blow' of the cost-of-living crisis. 'We both always have discussions about it (home ownership) and the market here is just becoming more and more saturated. People having multiple properties doesn't give us a chance to get our foot in the door.'
Australia is experiencing its largest-ever intergenerational wealth transfer, with an estimated $3.5 trillion to $5.4 trillion expected to pass from baby boomers to younger generations over the next two decades. The 2026-27 Federal Budget introduces significant changes to negative gearing, restricting tax deductions for rental losses on established properties. From July 1, 2027, investors buying established homes cannot offset losses against their salary, while new builds remain exempt. The 50 per cent capital gains tax discount will be removed for assets acquired after May 12, 2026, reverting to an inflation-based indexation model from July 1, 2027. A minimum 30 per cent tax rate on capital gains tax will be in place from July 2027.
Mixed Reactions from Older Australians
Pam and Ron McCarthy, visiting Bondi Beach from Brisbane, were not impressed. 'It doesn't affect all of us oldies who have got houses, but I don't think it inspires the young ones to try and get ahead,' Pam said. 'They won't invest if they can't use it as a tax deduction.' Ron added, 'We used to have investment homes, and you'd buy them at a cheap price - you didn't buy them brand new because you'd pay too much for it. You'd get in low and keep it and it helps you with your superannuation. Rents will rise because there will be no houses to rent.'
However, Kim Richardson, 64, was satisfied with the budget, rating it 7/10 despite being an investor. 'I think the negative gearing changes and capital gains changes were overdue, so I'm happy with that and it will wash through the system. I think we've had it a bit too good for a bit too long. I was reasonably happy with the Budget.' She also supported cuts to private health rebates for over 65s, stating, 'We have private health insurance, and I don't think we need to be a strain on the public purse so I'm happy with that.'
The NDIS will see $15 billion slashed from its budget over four years, with 160,000 people expected to be removed from the scheme. Richardson said it needed a review, as did fellow baby boomer Hazel Moise. 'That's just been a minefield and a licence to print money for the people that are doing the wrong thing but the people who really need it are going to be the ones who suffer,' Moise told Daily Mail. She laughed when asked about the $250 tax break and called for restrictions on overseas property buyers. 'If you don't live here, you shouldn't be allowed to buy here. My son has already got his foot in the door with an investment, but my daughter has got no chance. I don't know how changing negative gearing is going to get the rents down, if you've got no-one investing, the rents will be harder to find and they'll go up.'
Joe Butler, 71, called for more taxation of the wealthiest but said Chalmers was on the right path. 'It's (the $250 tax relief) only a step in the right direction. I think they're doing the right thing. It was braver than the last (Budget).'
