Better economic insights make for better housing policy. This was a big part of the case for land use planning reform we made in our recent housing research at Grattan. That’s why it was great to see NSW commit this week to feasible capacity targets for local council plans. 🧵

Australian cities are upzoning to allow for more apartments and townhouses, with the aim of getting more homes built. But policy makers need better tools to assess how effective these policies can be. It all starts with better understanding commercial feasibility. 🧵

I had a great time this week talking about trends in house prices, what factors shape housing demand, and how to build more homes in the places people want to live on Peter Martin's 'The Economy, Stupid' podcast, alongside Maria Yanotti. I'll link to the full episode below.

Tax reform is hard. Its goal is to shift our tax base toward fairer and more efficient taxes. Inevitably, those who see their tax bill rise will be unhappy, while benefits to the wider economy are less apparent. My latest piece for the Conversation goes to exactly this issue. 🧵

Parking minimums are one of the clearest examples of how legacy planning rules have let Australians down. They seek to mollify those concerned about on-street parking chaos. But they don’t work, and they make housing more expensive to build. Our new Grattan report shows how. 🧵

Had a great time yesterday chatting about all the housing announcements in this week’s federal budget with Jonathan O’Brien, Jessy Wu, and Manning Clifford, as part of the latest Inflection Points podcast. There's a lot to unpack!

Yesterday, I travelled to Canberra to join the budget lock-up, tentatively excited by what the budget papers would show. As it turns out, they didn’t disappoint. A short 🧵

Much of the focus on housing policy pre-budget has been around potential reforms to capital gains and negative gearing. But it’s likely the most important housing policy at this budget has already been announced. A short 🧵 on the local infrastructure fund.

With the budget just around the corner, yesterday we released our Grattan 2026 Budget Cheat-sheet, setting out how much Australians earn and own. It's a helpful guide for budget-watchers - and this year it even includes a stats on rental losses and capital gains!

Budgets are hundreds of decisions about how the government will tax and spend — but how many people will actually be affected? Grattan’s 2026 Budget cheat sheet breaks it down, read more here: grattan.edu.au/news/grattan...

Had a great time talking all about housing and tax reform alongside Peter Tulip on RN yesterday morning. Like many of those who texted in to the program, I'll be very interested to see what next week's budget brings.

What housing economists are looking for in this budget - ABC listen

It's been widely reported that next week's federal budget will feature changes to the capital gains tax, negative gearing and the treatment of trust funds. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the changes are needed to help create intergenerational fairness around housing.  Two experts weigh in on how these changes could work.  Guest: Peter Tulip, Chief Economist at Centre For Independent Studies + Matthew Bowes, Senior Associate Grattan Institute Producer: Eddy Diamond

abc.net.au

There's been some public discussion about how to 'grandfather' any future changes made to the capital gains tax, so that investments already made don't see changes to their tax treatment. Here's three things to keep in mind about grandfathering and tax reform. 🧵

Building more homes and better cities is one of Australia's biggest productivity opportunities. That's why in Grattan's submission to the Senate Inquiry into Australian Productivity, we argue for federal government leadership on productivity-enhancing planning reform. 🧵

Who gets a say? It’s one of the core questions in any democratic process. In our recent report on Australia’s democratic resilience, we make the case for broadening whose voices count in elections for our lowest level of government. A short thread 🧵 1/

The Grattan podcast is back! Listen in to catch Kate Griffiths and me talking about our latest report 'For the people: future-proofing Australia's democracy'. Link below.

Among many discussions we have with policy leaders at the Grattan Institute, one issue continually comes to the fore: Australia's democracy. But is our democracy really under pressure? If so, how should we respond? This is the topic of our latest Grattan Institute report.

For the people: future-proofing Australia's democracy

Australians cannot take the future strength and resilience of our democracy for granted. These are more turbulent times not just for our economy or standard of living, but for liberal democracies themselves.

grattan.edu.au

Was great to be on a panel hosted by Infrastructure Victoria last week discussing all things housing, planning, and infrastructure, alongside Katherine Sundermann, Patrick Fensham, and Jonathan Spear.

Recently in my research at the Grattan Institute, I’ve been thinking a lot about Australian democracy: the factors that have made it successful, the challenges it faces, and how we can make it better. A few thoughts on one of the books that’s helped me with these questions. 🧵

Was absolutely thrilled to take part in a panel this week alongside the great Alain Bertaud, as part of an event organised by YIMBY Melbourne

My boss wrote a piece in support of migration – and migrants. It’s good. Makes me proud. #auspol grattan.edu.au/news/migrant...

Migrants are who we are - Grattan Institute

When political opportunists come for migrants, it is kids in schools across this country who bear the scars.

grattan.edu.au

Excited to have been in Sydney today presenting on some of our research as part of a Grattan Institute event on ‘How to tackle Sydney’s housing crisis’. Here's a short summary🧵

How to tackle Sydney’s housing crisis - Grattan Institute

These changes could save $1.2b a year.

grattan.edu.au

The idea that landlords just ‘pass through’ costs they face onto renters - as is now being argued in the context of capital gains tax reform - is widespread, but misguided. A short thread 🧵

Rents will surge if CGT discount goes, warns REIA

Ahead of a Senate inquiry into the capital gains tax discount on investment properties, the residential real estate industry warns against change.

afr.com

With the federal budget approaching and speculation again mounting over capital gains tax reform, there's been some discussion about returning to the pre-99 'inflation indexation' approach to taxing capital gains. Here's a quick explainer on how that would work.

How did Australia's political parties finance their 2025 election campaigns? In our latest piece for the Conversation, Kate Griffiths and I dig into the recently released party returns data to find out. 🧵

Election 2025: Where the money came from - Grattan Institute

New data underscore the need to improve the rules about money in politics.

grattan.edu.au

Huge amounts of money flowed into the coffers of Australian political parties in the lead up to the most recent federal election. Here’s who gave the most.

New data show where the parties got their money from in the lead-up to the 2025 election

theconversation.com

First reaction: this is an incredibly brave response in the face of some pretty blatant political thuggery. Second reaction: if I had a nickel for every time a historic reserve bank office building turned out to be a pain to refurbish…

Federal Reserve@federalreserve.gov · 7mo ago

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG... www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...

New year and new article out in @ausjpolsci.bsky.social with Mark Chou, Rachel Busbridge & Luke Dean: Mapping the ‘fringe’ in Australian local politics We provide the first systematic analysis of fringe candidates in the 2024 NSW & VIC local government elections. 🧵

There’s a few arguments I disagree with in this op-ed from Kate Shaw, but one point I wish housing experts of all stripes could agree on is that a ‘30% of income’ benchmark is a poor metric of housing stress - or the functioning of our housing market.

Good article here from Brian Potter on why Sweden’s much-commented-upon high rates of prefabrication in housing construction haven’t necessarily led to lower construction costs. Link in next post.

I read a bunch this year for Grattan’s wonks and summer reading lists - if you haven’t checked them out, do, they’re great! - but not all my favourite papers, books, or essays made it to those lists, so here’s a few year-end highlights I thought were worth sharing. 🧵