A high-profile teal MP is pushing to exempt technology companies from looming capital gains tax changes after meeting with industry bosses - despite appearing at a press conference during the same week calling out big tech's political sway.

Under Labor's 2026 Federal Budget reforms, the current 50 per cent CGT discount will be scrapped and replaced with an inflation‑based model that taxes only 'real' gains.

The Tech Council of Australia warned the proposed changes could dramatically reduce the payoff for founders, early employees, and investors who take major risks building start‑ups.

The Tech Council represents many of Australia's largest technology companies, including Atlassian, Amazon, Apple, Canva, Google, Microsoft, Airwallex, Stripe, eBay and OpenAI, and is led by Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar.

'It will literally set back the start‑up community in Australia a decade or more. The next generation of founders, instead of building the next Canva in Australia, or the next Afterpay in Australia, it is going to be built in the Bay Area, or Singapore, or somewhere else,' a Square Peg co‑founder said.

The growing backlash from the tech sector appears to have prompted a rethink from community independent Teal MP Allegra Spender, who has close ties to billionaire Farquhar.

Her March policy paper proposed reducing the capital gains tax (CGT) discount from 50% to 30%, with no exemptions for any industry.

After meeting with Farquhar last week, Spender changed her stance. She now says the CGT discount should be reduced to 35–40%. 

She also argued that all businesses - including big tech companies - should be exempt, rather than just small businesses as the current Labor plan proposes. 

Since then, she has spent considerable time criticising Labor’s proposal.

'Ms Spender supports excluding all operating businesses from the CGT changes, not just the tech sector,' a spokesperson said.

'The indexation model of CGT taxation is not suitable for all low‑capital businesses and doesn't reflect the risk Australians take when they start and grow businesses. We need to support and encourage that entrepreneurialism,' a spokesperson for Spender said in a statement.

'She also has concerns that proposed CGT changes create distortions in investments and don't reflect the risks people take when making investments.

'Spender believes that we should reduce marginal tax rates, including at the top end, and pay for that by reducing tax discounts on assets, including lowering the CGT discount from the current rate of 50 per cent to a lower level, such as 35 per cent to 40 per cent.'

Spender and Farquhar, who is estimated to have a net worth of $21 billion, have known each other for more than a decade.

She also sponsored a parliamentary access pass for Farquhar, which she has disclosed.

Farquhar is also a major donor to Climate 200, the campaign group that helped fund several teal MPs, and he has given more than $3.5 million in total to it, according to donation data.

In turn, Climate 200 directed more than $700,000 towards Spender's campaigns.

Despite her close links to the tech sector, Spender recently appeared alongside fellow independent Zali Steggall, who criticised the influence of major industries on government as the pair promoted a potential alliance of teal MPs.

'Too often, it is big tech, big mining, big industry that has the ear of government. And the big lobby groups, and not enough community industries,' Ms Steggall said on Monday.

Daily Mail Political Editor Peter van Onselen said this is exactly the kind of hypocrisy voters are sick of.

'The teals rail against big tech and big industry having too much influence over Labor, then the moment big tech comes knocking for support to amend the government’s capital gains tax changes, suddenly the teals advocating for giving them special treatment.

'You can’t spend Monday complaining that big tech has the ear of the government and then spend the rest of the week arguing for the same sector to get special carve-outs from tax reforms without developing a credibility problem.

'The politics of this are pretty obvious: denounce vested interests in public, accommodate them in private. That is not new politics, it’s just hypocritical.

'If a Coalition or Labor MP had close links to a billionaire donor, sponsored their parliamentary pass, then shifted position after a meeting with them, the teals would be first in line to condemn them.'

Former prime minister Paul Keating on Wednesday singled out Canva, arguing those who profited from the tech giant should not be exempt from the proposed CGT changes.

'Wealthy people are out there now arguing against the government's change,' he said.

'They want to split off start‑up capital and shares as if the individuals commentating have not made a feast of it already.

'They nominate tech and start‑ups. But if a tech start‑up fires, like a Canva, the value acceleration and level of wealth makes any discussion of the tax rate absolutely secondary.'