Greens leader Adam Bandt has suggested his party will use a hung parliament to force Labor to scrap negative gearing and revive free university education.

While Labor is ahead in the polls, Anthony Albanese could still be forced to govern with the support of either the Greens or Teal independents if the party fails to win a majority in its own right on Saturday night.

Mr Bandt boasted to the ABC’s left-leaning Q+A program on Monday night that a hung parliament would present a unique opportunity for the Greens, who have ruled out supporting Liberal leader Peter Dutton if the numbers are close.

‘I think we’re heading for a minority parliament, probably the most diverse parliament we’ve seen,’ he told the panel. 

‘And I think that’s really exciting – it gives us a chance to actually tackle the cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis and the climate crisis.

‘I think people are realising that we can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result, but I think we’re going to be able to keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to act on some of the big issues.’

Those big issues would include negative gearing tax breaks for investor landlords, with Mr Bandt saying it would be a priority during his election campaign on April 9. 

‘The Greens will make reforming negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount a priority in the next parliament, including when there’s a minority government,’ he said.

Greens leader Adam Bandt (pictured on April 4) has suggested his party will use a hung parliament to force Labor to scrap negative gearing and revive free university education

Greens leader Adam Bandt (pictured on April 4) has suggested his party will use a hung parliament to force Labor to scrap negative gearing and revive free university education

The Greens want negative gearing restricted to one investment property, but only for landlords who already own homes they rent out. 

That means homeowners with multiple properties would be forced to sell if they wanted to continue claiming rental losses on their tax return while future investors would be banned from receiving the tax break.

The Greens would also seek to undo the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount introduced by former Liberal prime minister John Howard’s government in 1999, which led to property price growth vastly outpacing wage increases. 

Mr Albanese dumped his predecessor Bill Shorten’s plan to scrap negative gearing for future purchases of existing properties after Labor lost the 2019 election.

But Treasurer Jim Chalmers last year admitted he had commissioned his department to model the effects of curbing negative gearing and amending the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount, which allows investors to only declare half the capital gain on their tax.

The Greens have cited a 2017 Parliament speech Mr Chalmers made when he was the Opposition’s finance spokesman, where he slammed negative gearing for favouring the rich.

‘The new data from the Reserve Bank showed that negative gearing increasingly does favour the most wealthy investors with multiple properties,’ he said. 

‘That is more justification for our approach to negative gearing, so that first home buyers aren’t going up against people with multiple properties who enjoy those big tax breaks from the government. 

While Labor is ahead in the polls, Anthony Albanese could still be forced to govern with the support of either the Greens or Teal independents if it fails to win a majority in its own right on Saturday night (Greens leader Adam Bandt is pictured left with his wife Claudia Perkins)

While Labor is ahead in the polls, Anthony Albanese could still be forced to govern with the support of either the Greens or Teal independents if it fails to win a majority in its own right on Saturday night (Greens leader Adam Bandt is pictured left with his wife Claudia Perkins)

‘In a tight budget environment it makes absolutely no sense to give the biggest tax concessions to the Australians who need them least. It’s dumb. It’s daft policy, and we need to fix it.’

A Parliamentary Budget Office analysis for the Greens showed negative gearing and the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount would cost the Budget $73.3billion in foregone revenue over the next five financial years. 

The Greens have also declared they would force Labor to revive free university education, a policy former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam introduced in 1974.

‘Experts predict we’re headed for a minority parliament. This election, the Greens will keep Dutton out and get Labor to act on cost of living relief for young people, including by wiping all student debt and making university and TAFE free,’ Mr Bandt said on April 14. 

‘The Prime Minister benefited from free university education but he refuses to give young people the same opportunity.

‘Young people are being crushed by increasing student debt while they struggle with paying rent or affording the basics, in a housing and cost of living crisis.’

Bob Hawke’s Labor government scrapped free education in 1989 and replaced it with the Higher Education Contribution Scheme where graduates started repaying the debt once they earned a full-time income above a certain threshold.

While Labor has no plans to revive free university education, it introduced free TAFE in 2023 – a policy which the Coalition has vowed to scrap.

Labor has also pledged $16billion to slash university student debt by 20 per cent or an average of $5,520 from student loans, which the Opposition would also undo, arguing it was unfair on tradies who didn’t go to university.

Adam Bandt (pictured) boasted to the ABC's left-leaning Q+A program on Monday night that a hung parliament would be an opportunity for the Greens, who have ruled out supporting Liberal leader Peter Dutton if the numbers are close

Adam Bandt (pictured) boasted to the ABC’s left-leaning Q+A program on Monday night that a hung parliament would be an opportunity for the Greens, who have ruled out supporting Liberal leader Peter Dutton if the numbers are close

The government is also planning to lift the repayment threshold from $54,000 to $67,000, calculating it would save someone earning $70,000 about $1,300 a year in repayments.

This is on top of another $3billion plan to reduce student debt by indexing it to the wage price index or the consumer price index, whichever is lower.

The last time there was a hung parliament, after the 2010 election, former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard formed a minority government with the Greens and regional independents, and introduced a carbon tax.

This broke an election promise made on television and saw the Labor Party dump her as leader in 2013 in favour of her predecessor Kevin Rudd. 

The Greens have also campaigned to make dental visits claimable on Medicare.

‘We know that Greens pressure works. For years, we pushed to make it free to see the GP – and now Labor have adopted parts of our plan just before the election. Even the Liberals are getting on board.

‘We can go further and get dental into Medicare – but only if we put more Greens MPs in Parliament to keep Dutton out and get Labor to act.’

The Greens now hold four House of Representatives seats, but Labor and the Liberal parties are campaigning to regain, from the Greens, inner-city seats in Brisbane. 

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