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Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Page: 2078

Taxation

Mrs BRONWYN BISHOP (Mackellar) (14:50): My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer explain how important maintaining housing values is to the confidence of consumers and the business community?

Mr MORRISON (Cook—Treasurer) (14:51): I thank the member for Mackellar for her question, because she knows how resilient and confident the Australian people are. She knows how confidence is so critical to the performance of our economy—

Mr Feeney interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member for Batman will cease interjecting.

Mr Feeney interjecting—

Mr MORRISON: and most recently we have seen—despite the shocks and volatility in global financial markets—

The SPEAKER: The member for Batman is warned!

Mr MORRISON: Australians' confidence rebound in January, despite all of that. But Australians have their investments and they have their wealth in their homes, and confidence in the value of your home is central to Australian consumer confidence. That is why it is so important that you have policies that are consistent and stable to promote consumer confidence in the value of the home, in the importance and value of having a job—which is what this government is focused on: jobs, growth and confidence, and we are seeing all three as a result of the policies of this government.

It is true that negative gearing has been part of the mainstay of policy in this country for a hundred years. It is not unique to Australia and it does not provide any special treatment. It simply respects the principle, as the former Secretary to the Department of the Treasury, Ted Evans, was saying of the principle that if you are seeking to earn an income then the costs of earning that income can be offset. This is an important taxation principle. It is not a concession. It is not something that is somehow a special incentive. It is just the simple, plain facts of how our tax system works.

What those opposite want to do is trash 100 years of good tax practice and throw that out the window to engage in the politics of envy. What they do not understand is ordinary Australians, mums and dads, are the ones who invest in negative gearing. Two-thirds of those who engage in negative gearing have a taxable income of $80,000 or less.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member for Sydney has been warned!

Ms Owens interjecting—

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member for Parramatta and the member for Gorton will cease interjecting. That is your final warning.

Mr MORRISON: Let me tell you more. As a percentage of the occupation, some 22.6 per cent of police officers negatively gear. In fact, as a percentage, more police officers negatively gear than specialised tax accountants, management consultants and, even, university lecturers. As a percentage, more ambulance officers and paramedics negatively gear than—

Mr Giles interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member for Scullin!

Mr MORRISON: accountants, financial advisers and economists. As a percentage of people in an occupation, more train and tram drivers negatively gear than solicitors, real estate agents and veterinarians. So on an equity measure, it is a big fail from those opposite because they do not get it, that mums and dads are just investing to put themselves in a better position for their future. What do those opposite have against the ambulance officers, the paramedics, the tram drivers, the police officers? They are trying to get into housing market, but those opposite want to come along and rip one out of three property purchases out of the market. (Time expired)