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Scott Morrison Rejects New Calls To Reform Negative Gearing

The Treasurer is against Labor plans to curb the controversial tax break.
Dissent has emerged in the Coalition about the policy of negative gearing.
Pring Samrang / Reuters
Dissent has emerged in the Coalition about the policy of negative gearing.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison has rejected fresh calls to reform negative gearing to help ease Australia's housing affordability crisis.

Speaking in London, Morrison said Labor's plan to wind back negative gearing rules were "jingoistic" and would not boost the chances of Australians getting on the property ladder.

"What Labor has done on negative gearing has been very jingoistic when it comes to housing affordability policy," Morrison said.

"They believe in silver bullets. It's foolish and reckless and it doesn't help anybody ... That's not going to help anybody buy a home."

He said the best way to combat skyrocketing house prices was to boost supply. "The primary issue if you're serious about addressing housing affordability is you've got to address supply."

The comments come as some Coalition backbenchers speak out about the need to put a break on the tax strategy to rein in booming house prices in capital cities, especially in Melbourne and Sydney.

The Member for Canning, Andrew Hastie, reportedly called housing affordability a "moral issue" , noting that "everything should be on the table".

His Liberal colleague, John Alexander, described negative gearing was an example of politics "[getting] in the way of developing better policy," according to NewsCorp Australia.

It also follows comments made by new NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian who has said that tackling housing affordability will be one of her administration's top priorities.

Negative gearing is a boon for landlords and property owners because it allows investors who make a loss on property to reduce the tax they pay on other income.

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