We will not stop fighting for renters, for young people, for all Australians
In the closing days of Australia's parliamentary winter sitting, a quiet but consequential bargain was struck between the Albanese government and the Greens — one that traded progress on housing affordability for a pause in a disability funding overhaul affecting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Australians. The deal reflects a recurring tension in democratic governance: the necessity of compromise, and the human cost that can be buried within it. Two major policy questions — who bears the burden of wealth, and who bears the burden of need — were momentarily bound together, their fates exchanged across a negotiating table.
- Labor's long-stalled tax reforms — targeting capital gains discounts and negative gearing — finally found a path to passage, unlocked by Greens support in exchange for concessions on disability policy.
- Over 240,000 NDIS participants face the prospect of losing support under a cost-cutting overhaul that disability advocates, state governments, and the Greens have condemned as cruel and harmful.
- The Greens extracted hard-won protections — shielding key disability support categories from ministerial cuts and removing a superannuation loophole — while still declaring their intention to fight the NDIS bill's ultimate passage.
- An eight-week Senate inquiry extension has opened a narrow window for opponents of the NDIS changes to build pressure, but the Health Minister remains publicly unmoved, insisting the reforms are both necessary and carefully designed.
- The Coalition, excluded from the deal, condemned it as damaging to investment and housing supply, while pledging to repeal the tax changes if returned to government — leaving both reforms vulnerable to the next election cycle.
On a Tuesday morning in late June, the Greens announced they would back Labor's tax overhaul — unblocking one of the government's most contested budget priorities just before parliament broke for winter. The deal came at a price: a delay and partial reshaping of the government's planned National Disability Insurance Scheme overhaul, buying disability advocates and the minor party time to mount opposition to what they described as a harmful cost-cutting exercise.
The tax changes were substantial. From July 2027, the capital gains tax discount would shift to a cost-based indexation model, and negative gearing would no longer apply to investment properties purchased after mid-May 2026, with exceptions for new construction and certain housing programs. Prime Minister Albanese framed the reforms as a matter of fairness for Australians who had only their labour to rely on. Greens leader Larissa Waters called them "a small step in the right direction" — though she noted they could have gone further — and highlighted concessions won, including the removal of a superannuation loophole and the stripping of ministerial powers that could have reversed the reforms unilaterally.
The deeper negotiation, however, centred on disability. The government's NDIS overhaul proposed tightening eligibility, mandating independent assessments, and granting the minister power to cut entire support categories — changes projected to save $37.8 billion over four years, partly by removing more than 240,000 people from the scheme. The Greens secured amendments protecting key support categories from ministerial cuts, including funding for daily living, assistive technology, and health-related needs, as well as guarantees against forcing participants into restrictive practices.
The Senate inquiry was extended by eight weeks to mid-August, giving opponents a window to pressure the government to abandon the bill entirely. Greens disability spokesperson Jordan Steele-John negotiated the protections, while Waters vowed to fight the legislation's passage by every available means. Health Minister Mark Butler remained unmoved, insisting the reforms were necessary and carefully designed.
The Coalition condemned the deal as dangerous to investment and housing supply, having offered the Greens a longer inquiry extension in exchange for more scrutiny of the tax bills — an offer rejected. Labor still faces further negotiations, needing fresh legislation on trusts and startup tax concessions, and will require opposition support to pass the NDIS bill after the inquiry concludes — a reckoning that may yet reshape the final form of disability policy in Australia.
On a Tuesday morning in late June, the Greens announced they would back the Albanese government's tax overhaul—a move that unblocked one of Labor's most contentious budget priorities and sent it toward passage before parliament broke for winter. The deal came with a price: the government agreed to delay and reshape its planned overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, buying time for disability advocates and the minor party to mount pressure against what they saw as a harmful cost-cutting exercise.
The tax changes themselves were substantial. From July 2027, the capital gains tax discount—which had allowed investors to pay tax on only half their profits from asset sales—would shift to a cost-based indexation model. Negative gearing, the practice of deducting investment property losses against other income, would no longer apply to properties purchased after mid-May 2026, with exceptions carved out for new construction and certain government housing programs. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed the reforms as a matter of fairness: most Australians, he said, had only their labor to sell and their work ethic to rely on. These changes were meant to help them afford homes of their own.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, called the reforms "a small step in the right direction," though she made clear they "could have been so much better." The party had extracted concessions from Labor—notably, the removal of a loophole that would have let self-managed superannuation investors continue exploiting the tax breaks, and the stripping of ministerial powers that could have allowed the government to reverse the reforms unilaterally. Waters pledged that the Greens would keep fighting for renters and young people, even as they voted to let the tax bills pass.
But the real negotiation centered on disability. The government had planned to drastically contain the growth of the $50 billion-a-year NDIS by tightening eligibility, subjecting all participants to independent functional assessments, and giving the minister power to cut entire categories of support. The scheme was projected to cost $37.8 billion less over four years under these changes—savings achieved partly by forcing more than 240,000 people off the program entirely. The Greens, along with disability advocates, providers, and state and territory governments, had called the plan cruel.
Under the deal, the Senate inquiry into the NDIS legislation was extended by eight weeks, pushing its findings to mid-August and giving the Greens and their allies a two-month window to pressure the government to abandon the reform altogether. The minor party also secured amendments that would shield certain support categories from ministerial cuts—funding for daily living, assistive technology, consumables, home modifications, and supports tied to health needs, medical appointments, or work. They also won guarantees that people would not be forced into restrictive practices, such as forced medication, to meet the requirement that all treatment options be exhausted before accessing the scheme.
Jordan Steele-John, the Greens' disability spokesperson, had negotiated these protections. Waters vowed to "push in every possible way" for the bill to never pass, using the eight-week delay to build momentum against it. Health Minister Mark Butler, however, remained unmoved. He said he was "utterly convinced" the reform was necessary and that he would not "sugar-coat" the fact that big change had to happen. The government had designed the changes carefully, he insisted.
The Coalition, meanwhile, was furious. Opposition leader Angus Taylor called the Labor-Greens deal "dangerous" and said it would hurt business investment and housing supply. The Coalition had offered the Greens a six-month inquiry extension in exchange for more scrutiny of the tax bills—an offer the minor party rejected. Taylor said the Coalition remained committed to making the NDIS financially sustainable and would work with the government on sensible reforms, though he reaffirmed the Coalition's intention to repeal the tax changes if it won the next election.
Labor still faced work ahead. The government would need to draft fresh legislation dealing with trusts and a special capital gains tax concession for startups, requiring another round of negotiations with the Greens. And after the Senate inquiry reported in mid-August, the government would need opposition support to pass the NDIS legislation—a negotiation that could reshape the final form of disability policy in Australia.
Notable Quotes
Most Australians have nothing to sell but their time, nothing to give but their hard work. We want those people to have the opportunity to own their own home.— Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
The Greens will vote to see it pass the parliament this fortnight, but we will not stop fighting for renters, we will not stop fighting for young people.— Greens leader Larissa Waters
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did the Greens agree to support tax changes they clearly thought were inadequate?
Because they got something they valued more—time and amendments on disability. They traded a half-loaf on tax for leverage on a policy that affects 240,000 vulnerable people. It's a calculation about which battle matters most.
But they still oppose the NDIS bill. So what did they actually win?
They won the ability to fight it. Eight weeks of delay, public hearings, and amendments that protect certain support categories. They're betting they can kill the bill entirely during that window, or at least force the government to back down further.
Will they succeed?
Unlikely. The government seems committed. But the Greens are betting on disability advocates and public pressure. They're also betting the Coalition might help them—though that's complicated because the Coalition wants to repeal the tax changes.
So the Coalition is actually in a strange position here.
Exactly. They oppose both the tax changes and the NDIS overhaul, but for different reasons. They offered the Greens a longer inquiry extension to block the taxes. The Greens refused. Now the Coalition has to decide whether to support NDIS reforms they're skeptical of, just to avoid looking obstructionist.
What happens if the government loses the vote on NDIS in August?
Then the whole reform collapses, at least for now. The government would need to go back to the drawing board. That's what the Greens are hoping for—that eight weeks of pressure will make the political cost too high.