Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Many of my constituents have shared with me their concerns about Labor's plan to abolish negative gearing and increase capital gains tax by 50 per cent, and they have every right to be worried. If Labor gets these policies through, they will hurt the people who own their own homes—over 35,000 households in Bonner—as their houses will be worth less. They will also hurt over 14,000 households in Bonner that rent. They will have to pay more to keep a roof over their heads. Then there are those who negatively gear. Over 9,000 households in Bonner use negative gearing. This is higher than the national average. The people who negatively gear their properties aren't millionaires like Labor wants you to believe. They're teachers, they're nurses, they're firefighters—they're people just trying to get ahead, and they stand to lose if Labor has its way.

One of my constituents put it to me very well recently. He said: 'I distinctly remember Paul Keating having to eat humble pie and reverse his decision to stop negative gearing back in the eighties. People stopped buying investment properties. There were fewer houses to rent. Demand for rental houses exploded and rent went through the roof, so poorer people who rented got very badly hurt financially. The same thing will happen.' Now Labor wants to implement these policies that a growing list of experts warn will have a negative impact on the economy and property market. For the sake of my constituents and for the 1.3 million Australians who negatively gear their property, I hope Labor starts listening to these warnings and dumps this very big new property tax.