Jonno, for those who know little about tax, maybe you should look to the 'depreciation' side of negative gearing, for real potential savings, for the government. You buy a new town house for $1,000,000 in Sydney, the annual write-off for 'depreciation of fixtures and fittings' alone, would be a conservative $20,000, before you even look at the other costs.
This depreciation may recognise an asset that you never actually replace, so, probably a good starting point, if they want to mess around with negative gearing.
