Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Up the road in Coogee, it is $592 every day. In Botany it increased by around 35 per cent over the last three years.

Unfortunately, when it comes to housing affordability, this Turnbull government sits on its hands. It is doing nothing. They talk about increasing supply. Liberal governments at the state and national level are talking about the importance of increasing supply, but they are not dealing with the crux of the issue, which is demand and, in particular, the massive tax concessions that exist in Australia at the moment for wealthy investors through negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. That mob over there on the government benches are all about funding priorities. They are about making sure that you have measures in the budget to fund your priorities. Yet, when the capital gains tax discount was introduced by former Treasurer Peter Costello on behalf of the Howard government, it was unfunded in the budget. There was no measure it all to fund this commitment that reduced revenue by quite a large amount in the budget.

It is the view of the Labor Party that unless you reform negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts you are not fair dinkum about housing affordability in this country.

Government members interjecting—

I will take that interjection. They say that it is nurses and people that are negative gearing.

Mr Falinski interjecting—

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