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Darren Chester warns farmers would face stress, uncertainty and higher costs if the legislation passes Federal Parliament

The Albanese government has not guaranteed farming families will be better off under CGT changes, amid Coalition warnings of higher taxes, uncertainty and succession risks for Australian farmers.

By news@gippsland - 28th May 2026 - Back to News

The Albanese government has refused to guarantee Australian farming families they won't be worse off under the capital gains tax changes introduced to Federal Parliament. With peak agriculture bodies warning farmers could face massively higher capital gains tax bills when transferring farm ownership to their children, the Coalition has urged the Minister for Agriculture to listen to their concerns.

Darren Chester visited Bungendore farmers, praising their role feeding communities while criticising tax changes that increase paperwork and benefit accountants

Darren Chester visited Bungendore farmers, praising their role feeding communities while criticising tax changes that increase paperwork and benefit accountants

Farmers tax uncertainty

The Shadow Minister for Agriculture Darren Chester said farmers would face additional stress and uncertainty, along with higher costs to manage their affairs if the legislation passed Federal Parliament. "We have given the Minister several opportunities in Question Time this week to guarantee that farmers won't be worse off under this budget of broken promises and higher taxes, but she refused to give a straight answer."

"Our world-class farmers are good at managing risks like seasonal conditions, commodity prices and fluctuations in fuel and fertiliser prices. But how are they expected to manage the risk of a lying Prime Minister? Like everyone else, Australian farmers were never given the opportunity to vote on the tax changes because the Prime Minister misled the nation at the 2025 election," Mr Chester said.

Succession tax concerns

Mr Chester said the CGT changes made succession planning more difficult for farming families and peak farming organisations have expressed their concerns. National Farmers Federation President Hamish McIntyre has said: "The government still has time to get this right, but the message from agriculture is clear: The last thing this country should be doing is making it harder for the next generation to stay on the land."

"Family farms often represent farmers' life savings, carefully invested over decades to support their retirement and to provide a succession pathway for their children to enter the sector. We need to ensure changes to CGT don't unintentionally compromise the future of Australian farmers," said Mr McIntyre.

The Victorian Farmers Federation Acting President Peter Star has said: "A farming family simply cannot absorb the kind of CGT liabilities now arising when transferring a farm to the next generation. Farmland values have increased dramatically over the past 20 years, but the thresholds governing access to CGT concessions have stayed frozen in time. We're working off a framework that is no longer relevant."

Farm succession concerns

Victorian grain and sheep farmer Ryan Millgate has said: "The concern is these changes could force families to delay succession, take on more debt or even sell parts of the farm just to manage the tax impact."

Mr Chester has urged the Albanese government to be honest with the farming sector. "Farmers are facing more uncertainty from a government that was elected on a broken promise. This is not about special treatment, it's about making sure our farming families have a future on the land and are not hit with more taxes by the Labor Party," Mr Chester said

Pictures from Darren Chester Facebook page.


Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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