Jonno, for those who know little about tax, maybe you should...

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.