QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Dr MULINO (Fraser—Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services) (15:10): I thank the honourable member for the question. He has been a longstanding champion for more investment in housing and better outcomes for housing, particularly for young people. This government believes that, if they work hard, all Australians should be able to save for and ultimately buy their own home.
As former Liberal prime minister Robert Menzies clearly put it, a home provides one little piece of earth, with a house and a garden, which is ours, to which we can withdraw, in which we can be among friends and into which no stranger may come against our will. Unfortunately the tax system as it stands is not working for young people, and too many young Australians are locked out.
I think it's fair to say that, for today's Liberals, young people truly are the forgotten Australians. I don't want to live in a country where our children can't afford to buy a home, and I know that the overwhelming number of Australians don't want to either. That's why the legislation that passed through the House today is so important.
It tilts the tax system back in favour of young people, because when a first home buyer bids for a home, they shouldn't be bidding against an investor who is backed by the entire Australian tax system. We've placed changes to negative gearing and capital gains at the centre of this budget. We are abolishing negative gearing for established properties and replacing the 50 per cent capital gains exemption on nominal with taxing real gains, the original design of the system, because we know that government should not provide more support to someone buying their second, third or fifth house than someone buying their first.
Treasury modelling suggests these changes will result in a shift in ownership from investors to owner-occupiers. Our changes will support around 75,000 Australians into homeownership over the next decade, and we can see that this is already working. First home buyers and owner-occupiers are already getting a leg up.
Those on the other side of the chamber are the only people who seem to 'realise' there's a problem. They want to keep the disastrous Howard-Costello changes of 1999. These changes created deep structural flaws in our housing system that shut too many Australian families out of the market.
When these changes were made, the cost of a house was roughly four times the average household income. It is now closer to eight, and it's time to act. As a result, the rates of homeownership of young people have plummeted.
We're fixing the mistakes of the past. Those opposite can't let them go. The Liberal Party are the problem when it comes to unaffordable housing.
They created the problem, and now they defend it. I encourage them, for once, to put aside the confected outrage, put the interests of Australian first and do the right thing. Support our budget and help Australians.
Help thousands of Australians to realise the dream of owning their own home.