"There is an appetite in the community for a second round of substantial tax reform," he told the conference. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Treasurer Scott Morrison and local member David Coleman visited Kim and Julian Mignacca and daughter Addison on Sunday to talk about negative gearing. Credit:Michele Mossop "There is no need to be defensive. Reform should be debated and modelled. It may be that in the final analysis the conclusion is that the only reforms practically available are incremental ones; but we will never know unless we have an open and lively debate." In a paper he co-authored on the tax system in the same year, Turnbull described negative gearing as "very generous compared to many other countries" but also warned that "given the dependence of our economy on the building sector, the consequences of a change to negative gearing could be very severe". There were echoes, of course, in the words of the new Wentworth MP in 2005 and the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who emerged victorious from the party room in September 2015.

Everything was to remain "on the table" for debate in the post Abbott-era, it was to be a time of "advocacy, not slogans". Fast forward to Sunday and there was no room for nuance in the front yard of the Mignacca family as Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison made the "announcement" that the Coalition will not alter negative gearing. There would be no incremental changes despite Morrison having previously acknowledged "excesses" in the system. Slogans there would be. "Labor's housing tax" and "a tax on mum and dad investors" are lines that were unveiled and voters can expect to hear them on high rotation from the Coalition through until the July 2 election day.

In truth, the Turnbull government had recoiled from any significant surgery to negative gearing weeks ago. It might be unfair to remind the Prime Minister of his 2005 warning against going on the defensive over tax reform, because this was straight out attack. "If you vote for Labor and Labor wins government that means higher rents, lower home values, less investment," he warned. In truth, the Turnbull government had recoiled from any significant surgery to negative gearing weeks ago. Sunday's stage-managed non-announcement was all about the government drawing a line for the election fight: Labor's spending prolificacy versus the Coalition's restraint and, most likely, small personal tax cuts.

Framing the debate in those terms has eluded the government over recent weeks as it endured taunts about dithering and allowing Labor to lead the conversation on everything from negative gearing to a banks royal commission. Providing a black and white choice on negative gearing was all the more important because the government will basically match the opposition in three key areas by trimming back on some of the tax relief on superannuation enjoyed by the wealthy, cracking down further on multinational tax dodging and raising the price of cigarettes. The danger for Turnbull is that Sunday's performance will only reinforce the growing perception that he has traded the big picture, nuanced debates he once promised for the narrow sloganeering of his predecessor. "Abbott-lite" is a slogan that will resonate with many voters. Follow us on Twitter