Fresh after telling young Australians to “get a highly paid job” if they want to afford a home, Assistant Treasurer with responsibility for housing affordability, Michael Sukkar, has hosed suggestions that the Turnbull Government is considering winding-back the capital gains tax (CGT) discount and spouted lies on negative gearing. From The Australian:
Amid confusion within the Coalition about its housing affordability strategy, Mr Sukkar said Malcolm Turnbull had been unequivocal in stating there was no intention or proposal to reduce the capital gains tax discount despite colleague John Alexander claiming the government was “working on plans”…
“If you cap negative gearing and you reduce the discount in the way Labor’s proposed, you suck investment out of residential property which means you make it harder for first-home buyers, more expensive for renters and you ultimately reduce jobs in residential construction,” Mr Sukkar said.
May I remind Sukkar what Treasurer Scott Morrison said earlier this month with regards to Australia’s foreign investment regime:
“The Government’s policy to channel foreign investment into new dwellings creates additional jobs in the construction industry, increases housing supply and supports economic growth”.
Which of course follows Kelly O’Dwyer’s comments in 2015:
“Currently the framework seeks to channel foreign investment in residential real estate into new dwellings in order to increase the housing stock for Australians to build, buy or rent. Foreign investment is encouraged in new dwellings whether they be apartments, units or homes because in addition to creating more supply, it also creates more jobs for the building and construction sector – all of which helps to grow our economy”.
How is Labor’s policy with regards to negative gearing any different to the Coalition’s policy on foreign investment?
Both policies seek to channel “investment into new dwellings”. Therefore, both should create “additional jobs in the construction industry”, “increase the housing stock for Australians to build, buy or rent”, support “economic growth”, and increase rental availability and affordability.
Joe Hockey understood this, which is why he urged the following is his valedictory parliamentary speech:
“…negative gearing should be skewed towards new housing so that there is an incentive to add to the housing stock rather than an incentive to speculate on existing property…”.
Like most Coalition MPs before him, Sukkar has chosen partisan lies over thoughtful policy discussion.
