❓ Mr Nalder questions the Treasurer's support for federal Labor's negative gearing policy and its potential impact on WA home prices. The Treasurer dismisses the premise and argues the policy will have minimal impact due to WA's low investor rate.
AnsweredQoN 899Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NEGATIVE GEARING —
FEDERAL LABOR POLICY
899. Mr D.C. NALDER to the Treasurer:
I refer to the Minister for Housing's
100 per cent support for Bill Shorten's negative gearing and capital
gains tax grab and note that Mr Shorten is in Perth today.
(1) Does the Treasurer support Bill
Shorten's tax grab?
(2) How far is
the Treasurer and his Labor colleagues prepared to drive down Western Australian
home prices and how many households will be pushed into negative equity to pay
for Bill Shorten's class warfare?
FEDERAL LABOR POLICY
899. Mr D.C. NALDER to the Treasurer:
I refer to the Minister for Housing's
100 per cent support for Bill Shorten's negative gearing and capital
gains tax grab and note that Mr Shorten is in Perth today.
(1) Does the Treasurer support Bill
Shorten's tax grab?
(2) How far is
the Treasurer and his Labor colleagues prepared to drive down Western Australian
home prices and how many households will be pushed into negative equity to pay
for Bill Shorten's class warfare?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Mr Speaker —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members on my
right, your Treasurer is on his feet.
Mr B.S. WYATT : Obviously, I do
not accept the premise of the question around class warfare and tax grab, but I
will make some comments more broadly around the federal Labor Party's
policy on negative gearing. I said this to the media on Monday, I believe. I do
not expect that policy to have any real impact on property in Western Australia.
Indeed, of all the states in the nation, if we are worried about where negative
gearing is focused, clearly with investment property, Western Australia has the
lowest rate of property investors in the entire nation compared with all states
so if there is any impact in Western Australia, it will be the smallest of the
lot. One of the reasons we have the smallest investment property market in Western
Australia is that the previous government smashed that sector with three
increases in land tax in three years. That had a real dramatic impact on the
investment property market here in Western Australia. I am interested in the
shadow Treasurer's comments around the negative equity of some property
holders in Western Australia. Interestingly, Hon Peter Collier in the upper
house keeps making comment and asking why we do not stimulate more construction
of properties in Western Australia. Either we have negative equity or we do not
have enough properties in Western Australia, and at some point or another, the
Liberal Party will come up with a consistent position.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members on my
right, your Treasurer is on his feet.
Mr B.S. WYATT : Obviously, I do
not accept the premise of the question around class warfare and tax grab, but I
will make some comments more broadly around the federal Labor Party's
policy on negative gearing. I said this to the media on Monday, I believe. I do
not expect that policy to have any real impact on property in Western Australia.
Indeed, of all the states in the nation, if we are worried about where negative
gearing is focused, clearly with investment property, Western Australia has the
lowest rate of property investors in the entire nation compared with all states
so if there is any impact in Western Australia, it will be the smallest of the
lot. One of the reasons we have the smallest investment property market in Western
Australia is that the previous government smashed that sector with three
increases in land tax in three years. That had a real dramatic impact on the
investment property market here in Western Australia. I am interested in the
shadow Treasurer's comments around the negative equity of some property
holders in Western Australia. Interestingly, Hon Peter Collier in the upper
house keeps making comment and asking why we do not stimulate more construction
of properties in Western Australia. Either we have negative equity or we do not
have enough properties in Western Australia, and at some point or another, the
Liberal Party will come up with a consistent position.
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