Changes to negative gearing rules for landlords could be back on the Federal Government's housing agenda. Labor took the policy to the 2019 election and lost. But it's left the door open to trying again refusing to deny reports its commissioned treasury modelling on whether tax changes could help solve the housing crisis.
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TVTranscript
00:00Visiting a hospital to make an education funding announcement for Tasmania.
00:10But it was housing policy that stole the headlines.
00:13I've seen those reports and what we do is we value the public service.
00:18So from time to time I'm sure the public service are looking at policy ideas.
00:22The report in nine newspapers suggests the government's commissioned Treasury to investigate
00:27possible changes to negative gearing policy.
00:30The Prime Minister is being coy.
00:32No, I didn't confirm that.
00:34We've got a housing policy and that's not in it.
00:37A negatively geared property is one where a landlord is paying more on their mortgage
00:41and expenses than they're making in rent.
00:45Landlords can deliberately set up their investment to make this loss because it means they don't
00:49have to pay as much tax.
00:52Negative gearing reform haunts Labor.
00:54Bill Shorten wanted it restricted only to new homes ahead of the 2019 election and lost.
01:01Almost a fifth of taxpaying Australians do it, which means there are a lot of votes in
01:06keeping it.
01:07But five years on, soaring house and rental prices suggest the mood might have shifted.
01:13Poll after poll in the past two years has actually shown really consistent either support
01:18or that people are really open to this change.
01:22The Coalition wants clarity.
01:24There's nothing wrong with the government considering anything, but lying to the Australian
01:28people about whether they're considering it is another issue entirely.
01:32The opposition claims negative gearing changes will take wealth from mum and dad investors
01:37and won't solve the problem.
01:39We don't support a tax on housing that will reduce the supply of housing and increase
01:45the cost of housing.
01:46Labor's having a lot of difficulty getting its housing policies through the Senate, thanks
01:50to pushback from the Greens.
01:52If Labor does pursue negative gearing changes, this is one thing they could agree on.
01:58Greens pressure works and everything is impossible until it's not.
02:01Pressure that will only grow stronger as the election draws nearer.