Australia must end property ‘obsession’ for prosperity, warns NAB CEO

Detailed summary

The boss of one of Australia’s largest banks has warned the nation needs to rethink how it taxes capital and incentivises risk.

Australia must end its unhealthy love affair with real estate if it is to unlock productivity and grow the economy, National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Irvine warned.

Appearing before the House Standing Committee on Economics, Irvine said he was surprised by “the national obsession” of housing when he arrived in Australia six years ago, arguing it had created giant distortions in the local economy. Irvine is a British-Canadian dual-citizen.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Australian Financial Review. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.