Government does not want to be responsible for planning, developing and managing low income and welfare housing. None of that is stuff that politicians and public bureaucrats do well. There are stacks of embarrassing cases over years.

That is without mentioning the billions expended on aboriginal housing, where in view of the taxpayer money spent you'd confidently expect to see whole cities of buildings and facilities, but the actual result is something very different indeed.

Canberra doesn't even get it right in Canberra, where taxpayer dollars flow like water.

It is typical of that policy free zone Shorten and his cohorts recycled from the failed Rudd and Galah'd governments, that they would be distracting the tabloids and chattering (instant) experts with Class Warfare. Honestly now, since when did they give a rat's rear for low income and welfare recipients anyhow? What about those 'Struggle Streets'? As previous Labor leader Latham correctly pointed out, Shorten and Labor have been preoccupied with gay marriage instead.

<FORMER Labor leader Mark Latham has slammed his party’s “obsession” with gay marriage saying it should focus on the nation’s “Struggle Streets” instead.

He told 3AW radio Bill Shorten’s private members bill to push for changes to the marriage act to allow same-sex couples to tie the knot, to be introduced into parliament on Monday, was nothing more than a symbolic gesture.

He said the biggest social issue facing Austalia was unemployment, drug use and homelessness in suburbs such as Mt Druitt which was the focus of the SBS documentary, Struggle Street.

“If you are interested in equality and social justice in Australia then what was the really big event in the month of May,” he said. “We had the Struggle Street documentary which revealed that in the nation’s public housing estate, most notably in Mt Druit people live in conditions that you wouldn’t wish upon your dogs. Absolute chaos, despair and hopelessness in their lives.

“And surely, you would have expected a serious national response from the party of social justice?

“We didn’t hear anything.

“They’re obsessed, instead, by gay marriage.”>
http://tinyurl.com/zf5twyh

Aidan,

Don't take my word, just look up examples from Aus and other countries, whenever a government tries to dip into the pocket of Landlords, the result is that rents go up.

There are plenty of investment opportunities, and each one competes with each other for capital. The consequences of reducing returns on any investment opportunity is that capital will leave until such time as the returns equal other opportunities. For rental properties a loss in tax concessions, or increased land tax will result in fewer rental properties and increased rents.

If anyone is serious about reducing house prices then governments need to seriously improve the ability of people to build affordable houses within a reasonable commute of employment.

Yes SM and this is the point so many here miss, that housing is not the be all of investments and, once locked in, you cant convert to cash quickly as in with other forms.

My tip is that should the changes occur as per bills wish, rents will skyrocket due to huge shortages, new prices will hunt FHB out of the market resulting in more wanna be renters, and banks may review their lending strategies. All of which has the potential to plunge us into deep recession.
So I say to Bill and his followers, be careful what you wish for, unless you are 65 plus, own your own home and have no kids.

At the end of the day, investors, like myself, invest in housing because we choose to, not because we have to. Take away the incentives and you then expect landlords to become charities. WSont happen

It appears that Labor's negative gearing tax is yet another labor policy that is big in spin, but lacking in substance. The estimated take is less than $600m over 4 years.

This is not even as productive as the cocked up mining tax.

Aiden, I was living and renting in Perth at that time, and believe me it was hard to find a rental. I believe it was worse in Sydney.
They reinstated negative gearing for a reason, and it must have been a good reason to go back on their own policy.

The quicker they replace Shorten with Albanese the better.