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.(Anthony Albanese)