Turnbull said Labor’s policy would deliver a “reckless trifecta of lower home values, higher rents and less investment”. He also declared that the housing plan would “sledgehammer” the property market. “What Labor is proposing to do is to take one third of the buyers out of the market. If you take one third of the buyers out of the market, all other things being equal prices are going to fall,” he said. “What Labor clearly wants is there to be less investment in Australia because they’re jacking up the tax on investment.” He warned that a Labor election victory would drive up rents and reduce home values, impacting ordinary workers.
Cabinet minister Michaelia Cash said the Coalition was “backing the Australian people” after the government received “overwhelming feedback” – particularly from real estate agents – that mums and dads did not want any changes that would devalue their homes. “We have made a determination that based on where the housing market in Australia is at the moment, and it is unfortunate you’re looking at housing prices dropping, we will be making no changes to negative gearing,” Senator Cash told Sky News’s Australian Agenda program.
