Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I was remarking in my comments last night, for me the most important of the five schedules in this bill is the one on the expansion of the remit of the National Housing and Finance Investment Corporation. This will provide support through 10,000 guarantees over the next four years, from 1 July 2021, to eligible single parents with dependents so they can build a new home or purchase an existing home with a deposit of as little as two per cent, regardless of whether that single parent is a first home buyer or previous owner-occupier.

As I noted last night, I acknowledge that this will not help all single parents, but what it will do is recognise the importance of security of tenure and having a roof over your head. We know that, sadly, women in domestic violence or other circumstance of marriage breakdown particularly find it very difficult to find suitable housing. A lot of times they're forced into a situation where they're renting and they don't have security of tenure. Over the last little while, I've had plenty of examples given to me where what were formerly rental properties have been sold and those tenants have struggled to find other suitable accommodation. If they do go to inspect a property, there are 30 or 40 other people at that property and they have to pay up to six months rent in advance to secure that property, as well as pay a bond and other payments.

In establishing this Family Home Guarantee, the government has sought to provide a pathway to home ownership for single parents who have struggled to save a deposit while renting. Only last week, I was talking to a mum who was explaining to me the situation of her son, who is the custodial parent of their kids, and the difficulties that he was having. In part, this makes life that little bit easier for those who have the capacity to save a small deposit, and we've seen the success of that with various other schemes that this government has rolled out to assist people into the housing market through a guarantee model. We've also seen the success of that in the small business sector and in the additional finance that has flowed to small businesses as a result of the government guarantees of small business loans.

This should also be looked at in conjunction with a range of other measures that this government has rolled out over the last little while and as part of this budget. A large number of families across the electorate of Forde will benefit from our tax cuts. Many of those will be single parent families. We will also see the extended and expanded JobTrainer Fund, which will assist apprentices and trainees across my electorate take up job opportunities and expanded wage subsidies. We've already had nearly 2,500 apprentices and trainees across the electorate of Forde take up these measures. In addition, with the extension of low- and middle-income tax offset benefitting any number of families across the electorate, that, too, will assist those single parent families, and the additional benefits we've provided now through child care will also assist those families. So it's not just this particular measure, the Home Loan Guarantee, that is going to assist those families; it's a range of other measures that this government is already undertaking.

In addition, for families to be able to afford a home, whether it's rent but particularly to purchase it, one of the things they need is a stable income. Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with the team at YFS at Logan and talking about their Thriving Families project, which brings in family coaches, a housing specialist and an integrated team to help homeless families move from crisis to thriving. While it might be a big leap to go from homelessness to home owner, I think, in part, the Family Home Guarantee means this isn't impossible. For vulnerable people, stable housing is more than just a nice thing to have. Stable housing, for many, is even better than job security, and it's better for the welfare of the children who might otherwise be changing schools and neighbourhoods on a regular basis.

While we were also at YFS, we were able to announce $600,000 in funding from the department of the Prime Minister's Women's Leadership and Development Program project grants. This grant will provide two years of funding to deliver the Spark women's employment mentoring in Logan and the Scenic Rim. We know that domestic violence and homelessness can cause trauma and disruption to the women involved, and, when women are out of work and have no access to money, their situation can be compounded. The purpose of the Spark program is to provide practical support to quickly re-engage them in the workforce. It helps women rebuild their economic independence, sense of purpose, social inclusion and confidence. We know from many studies that this is critically important to help people get their lives back on track and be able to contribute to society the way they wish to but, more importantly, to provide the resources necessary to look after their family and their children.

As I said earlier in my contribution, it's about the combination of these programs, whether it's the low- to middle-income tax offset, whether it's the tax cuts, whether it's the traineeships or the support for programs like SPARK and for the wonderful work that YFS does across our community of Logan and the Scenic Rim, and now this housing guarantee for single-parent families. I think it's a tremendous demonstration that this government is committed to making the lives of Australians better each and every day. I'm very pleased to be able to speak on this bill and to commend this bill, in its original form, to the House.

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