Changing tax rules for investors won’t shrink housing supply or raise rents. Just look at Victoria

While extra land tax in Victoria spurred warnings about less rental supply and higher rents, the investor taxes actually seem to have helped Victorians enter the housing market without pushing up their rents. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

The Albanese government is preparing to unveil a budget that will recast housing as shelter – rather than a financial tool – in changes that have already sparked heated warnings that rents will rocket and housing supply will be curtailed.

Those warnings are best ignored.