Voter support for ALP’s negative-gearing policy slips, says Newspoll

Support for Bill Shorten’s negative-gearing policy has dropped after a government campaign targeting Labor’s housing plans.

Bill Shorten and Labor MP Tim Watts pack boxes at Foodbank in Melbourne yesterday. Picture: AAP

Voter support for Bill Shorten’s negative-gearing policy has dropped following a government campaign targeting Labor’s housing tax policies, with one third of Australians now opposed to the crackdown on investors.

An exclusive Newspoll conduct­ed for The Australian reveale­d a seven-point fall in suppor­t for Mr Shorten’s centrepiece housing policy amid a softening market, although backer­s of Labor’s tax overhaul still outweigh opponents by 47 to 33 per cent.

Of those surveyed, 42 per cent believed the policy would cause house prices to “come down a ­little” with a further 36 per cent saying that renting would become more expensive and 33 per cent saying property would be “more affordable” for first-home buyers.

Despite growing public concern at Mr Shorten’s push to halve the capital gains tax discount and limit negative gearing to new properties, Labor holds a commanding lead in relation to which party has the better approach to housing affordability. The Newspoll, based on 1802 interviews with voters across the nation, shows 47 per cent are in favour of reducing tax breaks for property investors, down from 54 per cent in April last year, while opposition has climbed from 28 to 33 per cent.

A five-year boom in the ­Sydney and Melbourne property markets ended in mid-2017, after prices increased by about 70 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.

The Australian revealed last week that the softening of house prices since then would escalate by up to 5 per cent under Labor’s negative-gearing policy, according to the November housing review of global investment manager Pendal Group.

 

Labor Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen has argued that the heat coming out of the Sydney and Melbourne property markets will mean the negative-gearing shake-up can be implemented “even more smoothly”, although industry has fanned alarm it will further reduce prices.

The Newspoll revealed 34 per cent of Coalition voters supported Mr Shorten’s crackdown compared with 50 per cent who opposed it. By comparison, the policy is supported by 59 per cent of Labor voters while only 21 per cent view it unfavourably. Opposition is most heavily concentrated among those in the over-50 age group, at 39 per cent, with support being strongest among those in the 18-34 age group, at 53 per cent.

Michael Sukkar, former assistant minister to the treasurer, said yesterday there was no doubt Labor’s negative-gearing policy was “going to become an even ­bigger issue” as house prices dropped in major markets.

When pressed on which party was better placed to address housing affordability, 45 per cent nominated Labor compared with 35 per cent for the Coalition. A further 20 per cent said they were uncommitted. Almost half of Coalition voters said they believed Labor had the better approach to housing affordability. Only 40 per cent of government supporters said the Coalition had a superior policy. This compared with 48 per cent of Labor voters backing Bill Shorten’s policy as offering the better approach to housing affordability compared with 35 per cent of Labor supporters who believed the Coalition had a superior approach.