Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Now, I know that on that side of the House their experience in small business is very, very limited. We know that. We know that, because they're all union hacks over there. We know that. But on this side of the House we encourage people to have a go.

This fairer tax system that Labor talk about is code for higher taxes and higher spending. That's all it is. They want to penalise mums and dads. According to the other side, according to that lot over there, if you own a house, you're wealthy—let alone if you own an investment house. You're filthy rich. We don't believe that on this side of the House, because we believe that many, many people—policemen, nurses, salt-of-the-earth people who are on the PAYG tax system—also are investors in property, and good luck to them. On this side of the House, we want to reward them. We want to ensure that, if they want to take a risk on that, they ultimately receive a benefit for it.

Interestingly, those on the other side of the House talk about discretionary trusts. They think they're evil, by the sounds of it. They also want to do things like reducing or eliminating negative gearing. In August 1987, in a cabinet submission on the debate for restoring negative gearing after it was abolished in 1985, the then federal Treasurer, Paul Keating, suggested that the removal of negative gearing caused investors to desert the property market and drove up rents. Those opposite are clearly not students of history, because they're bound to repeat the mistakes that they made in the mid-1980s. It stands to reason.

Honourable members interjecting—

See this speech in context