Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously the government is very concerned to ensure that housing is as affordable as possible, but we also understand the laws of the market. The truth is that, if you want to make housing more affordable sustainably, you need to boost supply rather than boost demand. If you boost demand in an overheated market then you will push up the price of housing even further. This is one of the reasons why we will not take up Senator Ludlam's proposition to get rid of negative gearing.

Negative gearing is not a specific tax concession. 'Negative gearing' is a colloquial term for legitimate tax deductions for financing expenses associated with investments. The principle of allowing deductions for expenses incurred in the earning of assessable income is well established in our tax system. Incidentally, job classifications from the ATO show that the majority of people accessing negative gearing are teachers, nurses, clerical workers, emergency workers and salespeople. So the Greens can continue to run down this path where they will be hurting Middle Australia— (Time expired)