Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I was telling those opposite about the importance of the HomeBuilder program. It has been supporting those one million jobs. That is what this government has done with HomeBuilder. That's why yesterday we announced a three-month extension to the program. This extension will also allow every single person who has made an application and signed a contract to have six months to start their project rather than three months. This is necessary because demand for the program has been so great that builders have said to the government, 'We need more time to fit in all these customers.' This will mean that this pipeline of work will continue all the way to 2022.

Yesterday the Treasurer and I were at a Stockland site. Importantly, the managing director and CEO of Stockland said in relation to the extension of the HomeBuilder program, 'Stockland now has the opportunity to accelerate an additional $1.5 billion of construction spend across the housing and land market because of this announcement.' Also we had with us the Master Builders Association, the Housing Industry Association and the Property Council. The head of the Property Council said:

HomeBuilder has been the most successful Federal stimulus for the construction industry of the past two decades and has kept hundreds of thousands of Australians employed.

Members opposite have not supported HomeBuilder. They have now had a change of heart. We welcome that support. We back the industry and first home buyers. (Time expired)

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