Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, because that is exactly the modern-day Labor Party for you, a party that regards housing as an investment and asset class. This is a party that's overseeing a tax framework which says, 'If you go to work and work hard every day, we're going to tax you more through the income tax system than someone who is already wealthy enough to buy an investment property.' This, of course, is because of negative gearing and the capital gains discount. That's the problem we're facing here—it's one of the many problems we're facing here. And when I say 'we' of course I'm really talking about Australians who are being ground into poverty and Australians who are living in poverty every day. They're having to make these awful decisions about what to prioritise in terms of the very scarce financial resources that they have.

I'll say to the Labor Party again: you need to stop regarding housing as an investment and asset class. You need to stop being the party of the property speculators, the party of the landlords—