Do young people want to eat the rich? No, they want something else |
Do young people want to eat the rich? No, they want something else
May 24, 2026 — 5:00am
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It’s just over a week ago now since the Albanese government responded to the distress that young Australians have expressed over a political and economic system in which it feels impossible to get ahead. By making it worse.
The 2026 federal budget is more unpopular than the 2014 Abbott-Hockey “austerity” budget, handed down after Tony Abbott went into the election promising no cuts. Newspoll – conducted on behalf of News Corp by Pyxis Polling, which also works for the Labor Party – found that the latest Labor budget is faring only slightly better than that of 1993, which broke prime minister Paul Keating’s L-A-W tax cut promises.
According to Amplify, a policy development entity which uses citizen juries and consultation, the sense of trust betrayed has coloured the budget’s reception. The organisation, which describes its mission as “restoring Australia’s broken promise” focuses on home ownership as part of the social contract. Using a mix of polling and moderated discussions, Amplify has consulted with 18,000 Australians on major reforms in this area over two years. It found that Australians from all walks of life were by and large supportive of removing negative gearing and reducing the capital gains tax discount to help address what it calls the housing crisis.
Amplify believes the budget has been poorly received for two reasons. First, because the prime minister and treasurer explicitly and repeatedly ruled out changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax before the election. “Trust matters when it comes to reform, and the data shows that trust has........