'Had to do something': As auction clearance rates drop PM defends policy

Anthony Albanese has defended both multiculturalism and his government's housing policy. (ABC News) Link copiedShareShare articlePrime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended changes to capital gains tax that were part of the budget, while also spruiking multiculturalism during a wide-ranging interview on 7.30. The Prime Minister was speaking after a weekend where auction clearance rates were their lowest since April 2020 in Sydney and lowest since during 2021's COVID lockdowns in Melbourne. "Everyone has acknowledged during this debate that the housing system is broken," Mr Albanese said. "Therefore we had to do something about it." That change has caused some consternation amongst investors and home-owners concerned their property values could decrease. Those concerns are backed by both the Commonwealth Bank and NAB. The CBA has forecast house prices to be flat throughout 2026, while NAB has predicted a drop of two per cent across major capital cities. The PM rebuffed those suggestions though, citing Treasury estimates from before the changes. "The Treasury estimates are that house prices will continue to increase, but they'll increase by a lesser amount than they would have otherwise with these changes," Mr Albanese said. Asked if he was concerned about people losing value on their homes the Prime Minister said he thought the auction results were encouraging for home-buyers. Auction clearance rates dropped in the past week. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore) "What is important is that last Saturday when people went to buy their own home, if it was an existing property, they weren't competing against investors who knew that if they could bid an extra $20,000 or $50,000," he said. "This is about making the system fairer. "People can still negatively gear new builds of course, and that's about boosting supply. "We know there's been a 400 per cent increase in house prices since 1999, more than double the increase in wages. And that's why we couldn't continue to sit back and not pursue this reform." Challenged that this was him effectively saying that "home-owners should just be prepared to take a hit", the PM denied the charge. Jim Chalmers has come under fire in some areas because of the CGT changes. (AAP: Lukas Coch) "We've seen home ownership rates drop for younger Australians," he said. "I don't want to live in a society that's defined by intergenerational inequity, by people from my generation having access to buying their own home and having the security that comes from a roof over your head, to people who are the younger generations simply giving up on buying their own home." With cost of living a major area of discontent for some Australians there has been a shift for voters from the major parties to One Nation. Pauline Hanson's party has recently topped opinion polls before a slip after her National Press Club address. Pauline Hanson is enjoying renewed popularity at present in the polls. (ABC News: William Murray) That had followed her party securing it's first ever lower house seat through David Farley, winning the Farrer by-election. But after Senator Hanson's comments about Australia being a monocultural society at the Press Club and the Socceroos apparently being a perfect example of it, she has once again stoked controversy. And that issue has caused further problems when it comes to Australia being multicultural for several politicians. Last week Opposition Leader Angus Taylor seemed unable to define multiculturalism when he was asked. And on Monday Shadow Minister for Industry Andrew Hastie called the term "politically loaded". Andrew Hastie said the term multiculturalism is "politically loaded". (ABC News: David Sciasci) Not so though for Mr Albanese, who was asked to define multiculturalism. "It's who we are as Australians," he told 7.30. "We have never been a monocultural society. "We are a modern country that are multicultural in our nature. "That means we have respect for each other. It means we are loyal to Australia — and we are made up with the exceptions of First Nations people — migrants or descendants of migrants in some way, either directly or going back generations as well. "One of the great things about our nation is that I think we can be a microcosm for the world at our best." As to Senator Hanson's surge in the polls, Mr Albanese said it was emblematic of global trends. "Pauline Hanson has [had] a long political career but we have seen the rise of populist right-wing parties throughout the western world. That reflects a range of changes, a range of frustrations," he said. "What we need to do as a government and [what] we are doing is address firstly and primarily cost of living pressures that are on people." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here. Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)See more ABC coverage in your search results PromotionTop StoriesBondi terror

'Had to do something': As auction clearance rates drop PM defends policy

Key takeaways

More in international