As a wage slave, negative gearing is one of the few reasonable ways I can help prepare myself for a retirement that is comfortable. Anyone planning to retire in about 20+ years should not expect much in the line of a pension (it's not going to be possible for the government to fund it), so you've got to look out for yourself and your family.
Negative gearing can be used for more than just property - I actually use it for a managed portfolio (shares, etc), since we now own our home -and that was achieved by some sacrifice and compromise over a number of years. This investment will help boost the superannuation at retirement and relieve the need for a significant pension.
So, I'll be quite annoyed if negative gearing is messed up - I'm not some rich person that we'll be able to survive on just superannuation and whatever meager pension remains.
What other options are available? Not everyone can have a flash, high income business and be able to tax write off many things.
Look at other options to fix house availability and pricing instead of messing with negative gearing - one example: improve decentralisation - get some businesses out of big cities to regional areas. People live where the jobs are, so you can change the nature of the supply and demand on housing in this manner. The problem with doing that is that it's well beyond the thought processes and capabilities of our politicians to handle such a concept and to plan and implement the many necessary steps/items required to achieve the outcome.
