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After losing the unlosable election last time, Labor is so poo-scared heading to the next election that they are jettisoning any policy that has the remotest possibility of providing a scare campaign for the Liberals.

In the 1950s the Libs were concerned about social cohesion and promoted home ownership; it probably had something to do with the 'communist threat'. Someone who managed to buy their own home - to live in - was more likely to feel that he/she had a stake in society and less likely to be attracted to 'dangerous' ideologies.

It's a different story today. The Howard/Costello 50% cut to capital gains did nothing to make housing more affordable (to say nothing about the foregone revenue). Negative gearing continues on the so-called 'investment' in a second, fifth, tenth, twentieth or whatever home. Frydenberg claims that rising house prices are good for the economy.

People aren't investing in extra homes; they are speculating. If a speculator beats a would-be home owner at an auction on an existing house, he/she isn't providing a roof over someone's head. The roof was already there and the wanna-be home owner might have been living there if it wasn't for the tax breaks provided to the speculator.

It's dog-eat-dog.