Australia is pushing away the private capital needed to solve its housing crisis

New builds were largely boosted by foreign investment during the 2010s. ANALYSIS by Tim Graham We keep taxing the capital we need to build the homes we don’t have. For much of my career, I had a front-row seat to one of the least understood forms of global migration. Not the migration of people – the migration of money. I spent years working across at least 18 countries, helping developers present projects internationally and sitting opposite high-net-worth families deciding where to place the wealth they had spent a lifetime creating. Their biggest question was rarely: “Where can I make the highest return?” It was: “Where will my money be safe?” MORE:Neg gearing reforms to cost tenants extra $25k Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced investor tax changes on budget night in May. Picture: Martin Ollman MORE: Millions of property investors could be overtaxed For families living in countries affected by corruption, political instability or weak institutions, Australia offered something incredibly valuable: trust. Our legal system, political stability, economy, education system and property rights made Australia one of the world’s most attractive destinations for capital. And critically, we...