Is the Howard era over? Albanese and Chalmers are betting the budget it is | Frank Bongiorno

With baby boomers outnumbered on the electoral roll, Labor are finally emerging from their shell to address intergenerational unfairness Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast If, as widely expected, the federal budget winds back the tax benefits attached to property investment and family trusts, it will amount to a breakthrough that has eluded every federal government since the Howard era. The achievement will be symbolic as well as material. Even Scott Morrison, as treasurer, flirted with some winding back of the excesses of negative gearing concessions to property investors. Labor’s modest proposals for reform at the 2019 election were part of the mix that cost Bill Shorten victory at that election. While Howard was not responsible for negative gearing, his government introduced the 50% capital gains tax concession that added large incentives to property investment. Meanwhile, even while wages grew during the boom of the early 2000s, the price of houses grew faster. Howard publicly celebrated the increased value of housing. Who wanted their home to be worth less, he asked? Howard knew he was on to a winn