Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Good on the Labor Party for at least wanting to have a national debate on this. I respect the fact that they have not ruled out policy options on negative gearing or on capital gains tax concessions. They at least want to consider them and they at least want to have a full debate on this issue. It is disappointing that while we go through this white paper process the government is already ruling out significant areas of tax reform that we know we need to have a close look at. I was the one who actually asked Treasury Secretary John Fraser the question that has now led to the infamous comment on a bubble in the Sydney house market. I was dismayed to watch up-close the Treasurer of our country show how out of touch he is with the Australian people with his 'let them eat cake' moment: get a good job.

He wants to see housing prices go up. That is fine if you own a house, especially if you own an investment property. But as we have pointed out countless times, there is a housing affordability crisis in this nation. A lot of young people and low-income people cannot afford to buy property, especially in places like Sydney and Melbourne. Unlike what Senator Canavan said, this is not about increasing taxes. It is about reviewing incentives in place—perverse incentives, potentially—that lead to undesirable outcomes. We are talking about removing a concession on capital gains in a very sensible way by using grandfathering so that no-one who currently negatively gears a house will lose out. We are talking about a policy that over time will make housing more affordable in this country.

Who could not want that? I will tell you who does not want that: the Liberal Party and the National Party do not want that. Let me tell you why. The benefits of 60 per cent of all negative gearing go to the top 10 per cent of income earners in this country. Guess where most of those people live? They live in safe Liberal electorates. These are their bread and butter voters and they do not want to take on this issue.

Meanwhile, around the country, we have a housing affordability crisis. We have a price bubble in real estate that all the experts in this country and all our key bureaucrats have pointed out is unsustainable. It is not just first-time home owners—those who have taken advantage of low interest rates and bought a property—who are going to lose out if that bubble bursts. It is also investors in these properties, including middle-income and high-income investors.

We need to have a serious debate in this place. That is why we were elected to parliament. We were elected to parliament to have open and frank debate—fearless debate—about something as important as tax reform in this country. I am proud to say that my party, the Greens, have lead on this issue and we, along with the Labor Party, look forward going to the next election with strong policies. (Time expired)