Hamish McLennan

Now, I'm asked about the role that the tax changes have played in this, and, Speaker, the government could not have been more transparent about this in the federal budget.

Now, Real Estate Australia Chair Hamish McLennan said this was simply not the case.

I asked him about this on the show last night, about those specific comments of Claire O'Neill.

Here's what he said.

Well, Labor's tax changes have had dire consequences for the housing market, and it's causing reverberations throughout the economy.

The chairman of Australia's largest real estate listing site, the $23 billion REA group, Hamish McLennan, is tonight warning that the consequences of Albanese government's tax hikes could span well beyond the housing crunch to hit bank dividends and self-funded retirees.

And I'm pleased to say that Hamish joins me now for an exclusive interview in studio.

Hamish, welcome.

Well, the chairman of Australia's largest real estate listing site is warning of the far-reaching consequences of the Albanese government's tax hikes, not just to the housing market, but to bank dividends and retirees.

The $23 billion REA Group chairman, Hamish McLennan, tells me today that what we're seeing extends far beyond a housing crunch.

He says even the living standards of retirees will be severely impacted.

And this comes as the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, today acknowledged that his tax changes were contributing to a housing market downturn.

And I'll bring you his comments in a moment.

But first, I spoke to Hamish McLennan today and he says the Albanese government could nuke the dividends over time, which many self-funded retirees rely on.

He says what no one is talking about is that so many Australians hold shares in Aussie banks and if banks aren't writing loans, their profits may come off.

You may earn less money in dividends because the banks pay out over 90% of their profits in dividends.

Yeah, so I wrote that in The Australian on Wednesday and It's not been a new discussion per se because people have been loading these sorts of ideas for several years.

You know, Hamish McLennan was a strong advocate, the former RA chairman.

What we're seeing now, though, is there's an appetite across the board and it's probably driven because the finances are not stacking up.

And Super Rugby.