Zero Day – What Labor and the Coalition are proposing on 3 May

Now that the Federal Election date has been set, we’re asking: what’s the upside for the finance industry?

Labor is focusing on continuity. The Government is presenting its record over the past three years as proof that things are improving, with inflation down, real wages growing, and public investment beginning to pay off. Their message is that while challenges remain, the economy is on more stable ground, and the next step is to build on that foundation.

Labor’s main election commitments include:

• Continued cost-of-living relief through tax cuts and energy bill support

• More investment in Medicare, including additional urgent care clinics and cheaper medicines

• A target of 1.2 million new homes over five years

• The Future Made in Australia plan, which backs clean energy and advanced manufacturing

• Infrastructure-led growth, with a focus on skills and services

• A focus on national security, diplomacy and climate action.

Shadow Treasurer, the Hon Angus Taylor MP has positioned the campaign as a test of who can deliver the conditions for sustainable growth. The Coalition is committing to a series of structural changes across fiscal policy, regulation and investment.

Key elements of the Coalition’s platform include:

• Reducing inflation through tighter budget control and targeted savings of over $100 billion

• Creating a new agency called Investment Australia, within Treasury, to fast-track major projects and reduce regulatory delays in sectors like finance, energy and construction

• Introducing a Securing Australia as a Financial Centre Bill, which would:

  • Reform the payments system

  • Introduce a digital assets regulatory framework

  • Support the financial advice sector

  • Improve access to capital markets and promote competition

• Reviewing APRA’s role in housing finance, with a focus on:

  • The serviceability buffer applied to home loans

  • Capital treatment of loans backed by Lenders Mortgage Insurance

  • Housing access for first home buyers

• Proposing a two-year ban on foreign purchases of existing residential property

• investing in housing infrastructure to unlock up to 500,000 new homes.

On tax, the Coalition is proposing:

• A permanent instant asset write-off (IAWO) of $30,000

• Simpler fringe benefits rules for business expenses

• No change to the tax treatment of unrealised capital gains in superannuation.

AFIA’s bipartisan political outreach program means we’re well-placed to make Contact and re-commence engagement with new Government officials following the election result.