Bandt then speaks on the policy the Greens are offering:

But we have to do it in a way which recognises that there are huge numbers of people who are using this scheme to look after their retirement.

People who’ve made plans for their future based on the levers available to them. These people aren’t billionaires or wealthy property investors. It’s not their fault that the system is so broken. Mum-and-dad investors aren’t out to screw the system, but just to look after their future.

And they make up more than two-thirds of the people who use negative gearing. We will protect these existing mum-and-dad investors by grandfathering negative gearing and capital gains taxes with one investment property. That remains with them forever.

But in the future, the capital gains tax discount will be replaced with the indexation method that used to be in place under Keating. It won’t be available for residential investment properties, and future purchases, or more than one existing property, won’t be eligible for negative gearing.

If you want to buy more than one or two investment properties, that’s your prerogative. But you shouldn’t expect a government cheque to help you buy your third, fourth, or 15th house while millions have none. It’s just basic fairness. And this will make a difference. This will make a difference.

The data that we’re releasing today shows that just these changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions could lead to more than 850,000 people living in their own home. The Liberals blame migrants for a problem that they didn’t cause, while Labor tinkers around the edges. The Greens will make the changes needed to fix the housing crisis. To drive down represents and make sure everyone can buy a first home, we also need government to build lots of homes that people can actually afford to rent and buy. It’s worked before and it will work again. If the government built homes and rented or sold them at an affordable price, we could drive down rents and provide more people with a place to live. Making sure that everyone has an affordable home is the government’s business. That’s why we’ve launched a policy for a public property developer. He could build 610,000 new homes to rent or buy over the next decade. On average around Australia, renters would save $16,600 a year, while first-home buyers could save up to $249,000 compared to the private market. We know this plan is possible because it’s what the government did after World War II.