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• Housing

Australia has some of the most expensive housing in the world.  Rising rents and prices are putting reasonable housing out of reach of large sections of Australian society.  The CIS is exploring ways to make housing more affordable, in particular by relaxing planning restrictions.

Fairness and the family home
Simon CowanMay 1, 2016Your Life Choices

The exemption of the family home from the pension means test is one of the...

Negative gearing helps poorer people most
Michael PotterApril 29, 2016ABC The Drum

Should we get rid of tax provisions that provide a greater benefit to the rich...

CGT trumps negative gearing
Robert CarlingApril 29, 2016Ideas@TheCentre

If England was a nation of shopkeepers as Napoleon is said to have asserted, modern...

MEDIA RELEASE: Punitive tax on capital gains will hit growth
Michael PotterMarch 1, 2016

The Labor Party should abandon its plans to impose a supertax on capital gains, according...

Discussion of gearing turns negative
Michael PotterFebruary 29, 2016Business Spectator

The tax discussion table was quite large for a while. But the table is rapidly...

The case against levying CGT on the family home
Robert CarlingJanuary 12, 2016Business Spectator

No tax reform debate would be complete without the appearance of hoary old chestnuts like...

Growth that Builds: Beyond the immigration blame game 
Marian L. TupyMarch 5, 2026PP63
This paper argues that Australia’s housing crisis is primarily a supply failure, not simply a...
Reform of Heritage Legislation
Peter TulipFebruary 26, 2026PP62

Introduction Several states have recently overhauled their planning legislation. However, the flaws in their heritage...

An economic walk on the supply side
Michael StutchburyOctober 16, 2025OP208

This is an edited version of Michael Stutchbury’s keynote address to the 2025 Freedom to...

Addressing Australia’s Productivity Problem. CORE Blueprint to Unshackle Productivity
Jim CoxAugust 14, 2025AP86

Introduction There is no one action that will lift Australia’s dwindling productivity growth; it is...

hurdles
Economic challenges ahead for the government
Robert Carling, Gene Tunny, Peter TulipJune 19, 2025IA153

The re-elected federal government faces a long list of economic challenges, some of them created...

Super for Housing
Matthew Taylor, Peter TulipMarch 13, 2025RR50

  1. Summary and Introduction This paper discusses a proposal that home buyers be enabled...

Housing negative gearing tax
Reducing the discount would likely not have any lasting impact in lowering house prices
Robert Carling, Michael StutchburyMarch 21, 2026CANBERRA TIMES

Anyone watching the smoke signals from Canberra knows that moves are afoot to try and...

Alarm bells ringing on more interest rate pain
Michael StutchburyMarch 18, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH
Australians were losing faith that the combination of Labor’s economic policies and the RBA monetary...
Labor’s capital gains tax myths need busting
Robert CarlingMarch 11, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH

Labor has long held an axe over the capital gains tax 50% discount and negative...

Measuring affordability in time, not dollars paints a different inflation picture
Marian L. TupyMarch 9, 2026CANBERRA TIMES

Even before new Middle East conflict sparked concern about petrol prices, Australia’s latest CPI release...

This Millennial moved to regional Australia to own a home
Trisha JhaMarch 2, 2026AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

A brief glance at the past fortnight’s headlines is revealing. High-speed rail is connecting Sydney...

Australia’s housing push is bipartisan
Peter TulipSeptember 17, 2025SPECTATOR FLAT WHITE
The Liberal party has two traditions, conservatism and support for free markets. Normally, those movements...
Old buildings and the housing crisis with Peter Tulip
Peter TulipMarch 4, 2026

Peter Tulip explains how several states have recently overhauled their planning legislation. However, the flaws...

‘NIMBYism is a cancer’: Bragg outlines housing policy vision with Peter Tulip & Michael Stutchbury
Andrew Bragg, Peter Tulip, Michael StutchburyDecember 12, 2025

Senator Andrew Bragg and economist Peter Tulip join Michael Stutchbury for a wide-ranging conversation on...

The simple solution to FIX the housing crisis | Emilie Dye
Emilie Dye, Randall EvansSeptember 18, 2024

What is behind the housing crisis in Australia and across the world? Research Analyst Emilie...

How to tackle Australia’s housing crisis one state at a time | NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey
Simon CowanAugust 29, 2024

Sydney is home to some of the least affordable housing in the world, placing immense...

A million extra homes won’t fix housing affordability!
Maya KuranaJuly 23, 2023
The budget's announcement of one million houses over the next five years will do very...
On Liberty EP96 Is the property bubble bursting?
Eliza Owen, Salvatore BabonesAugust 3, 2022On Liberty
Salvatore Babones returns to discuss the future of housing and rental prices with Eliza Owen...
Rental and Housing Affordability. Submission to the Victorian Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee
Peter TulipJuly 17, 2023

We need to relax zoning restrictions to allow more housing. At a society level, this...

The Need for Reform of Land Use Policy: Submission to the Productivity Commission
Peter TulipMarch 23, 2022

This submission focuses strongly on the housing affordability aspect of Australia’s productivity. Submission to the...

Submission to the Inquiry into Housing Affordability and Supply in Australia
Peter TulipSeptember 13, 2021

Submission to the government review into housing affordability in Australia. Housing in Australia is too...

Submission to IPART Review of Social and Affordable Housing Rent Models
Michael PotterMay 15, 2017CIS Submission

In April, IPART released a draft report into models for setting social and affordable housing...

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