Labor's Special Envoy for Housing, Josh Burns, was unable to explain how Treasury arrived at its estimate that the government's housing tax reforms would push rents up by just $2 a week, prompting a tense exchange with journalist Andrew Clennell during a News24 interview. The episode matters because it fuels doubts over the government's handling of proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, at a time when economists and property groups are warning the reforms could worsen rental affordability rather than ease it.

The reforms would scrap negative gearing on existing homes and replace the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with a flat 30 per cent rate indexed to inflation. NAB economists estimated rents in Sydney and Melbourne could rise by 25 to 30 per cent if investors sought higher yields to offset lost tax benefits, though NAB later said this did not account for existing properties being grandfathered under current rules. PropTrack data showed asking rents rose 3.1 per cent in the June quarter alone, around $21 a week, while Burns repeatedly referred questions on Treasury's $2 figure back to Treasury and defended the reforms as a long-term push towards greater home ownership.