The changes the Howard Government made in 1999 to Capital Gains Tax were supposed to boost investment in the share market.
Instead, they turbo-charged property as an investment vehicle.
And that fundamentally altered the equation for first home buyers – and for young Australians.
Since 1999, house prices have risen by over 400%. More than twice as fast as average incomes.
And in the same period, home ownership rates for Australians aged between 25 and 34 fell by 7% points.
It is no wonder that more and more young people – and indeed their parents and grandparents - have been worrying they will never own a home.
That feeling of having the deck stacked against you is only magnified when young Australians turn up to an auction and get outbid by property investors being given a leg up from the tax system.
Our reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax remove these distortions.
Bringing more first home buyers back into the market.