Comedian Dave “Hughesy” Hughes has demanded an early election be called in the wake of the Albanese government announcing its changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing in the latest budget.
In a string of social media videos, Hughes said he regretted voting for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers, claiming the election was “not valid” due to the policy backflip.
Despite growing public backlash towards Labor’s plan to eliminate the 50 per cent CGT discount and implement a minimum 30 per cent tax, the government is set to press ahead with legislating the proposal when parliament resumes on Monday.
In a video posted on Saturday, Hughes said a Brisbane business owner with about 100 staff told him the CGT changes had “killed him” and left him with “no motivation anymore”.
Hughes said if he had known the Albanese government was going to implement the capital gains tax changes, he would not have voted for Labor.
“I voted for Albo and Chalmers, they didn’t have a mandate for changing capital gains tax,” he said.
“It’s now the highest in the world. No one is going to want to invest in Australia.”
In the caption of his video, Hughes referenced exclusive Sky News polling which found just one per cent of voters believe they will be much better off under the government’s controversial budget reforms.
The Sky News Pulse / YouGov poll, conducted from May 12-19, showed 44 per cent of people believed the budget would make their household worse off – while 47 per cent said it would not make a difference at all.
Hughes said the changes will “affect every working Australian” because “we all have to have super”.
“And (the government has) just doubled the take on it,” he said.
While superannuation funds remain formally exempt from the new CGT framework, tax experts say the changes could still create significant flow-on effects.
As many super funds invest through complex trust structures, including Managed Investment Trusts, analysts say the new rules are expected to indirectly affect investment returns and portfolio management.
Industry experts have also flagged increased compliance costs, with funds expected to track two separate CGT systems simultaneously for assets purchased before and after July 1, 2027.
Hughes said the government was “incompetent”, calling the attempts to explain the benefit of the measures by the Prime Minister, Treasurer and Labor MPs as “bumbling, fumbling idiotic responses”.
He said the past week had “solidified the fact we need another election”.
“You didn’t have a mandate for it, you lied blatantly, so it’s not valid, so let’s go the polls again,” he said.
In 2025, Mr Albanese said changes to CGT and negative gearing were “off the table”.
Twelve months on, Mr Chalmers has restricted negative gearing and imposed a minimum 30 per cent tax rate on capital gains from 2027.