The CGT ‘backflip’ is more tweak than transformation. Labor hasn’t changed its mind on housing

Do the concessions undermine the original objective of helping young Australians buy their own home? No Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The noise, negative headlines and internet memes that have surrounded Labor’s capital gains tax changes since their budget night unveiling made a backdown feel like an inevitability. It wasn’t a question of if concessions would be offered but rather when and, most importantly, how much they might undermine the original purpose. For a government and prime minister that has so often shirked confrontation, this was an early and significant test of Labor’s newfound commitment to hard – and necessary – policy reform. The proposed changes that Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers announced on Thursday appeared at first blush to be a major rewrite of their budget centrepiece. It was reported as such in various media outlets, including The Australian, which described it as a “massive policy retreat” and a “backflip”. But on closer inspection, the substance of the changes are more tweak than transformation, a series of adjustments designed, at least in some cas