Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this housing legislation with a mix of support and concern. Several months in, we have one of those rare opportunities to debate legislation which the Labor Party actually prepared themselves, under the guise of their own policies. It is a rare situation because it isn't a carbon copy of coalition policy. And we can tell that it's not coalition policy, because, while those opposite speak about unlocking opportunities for young people and supporting those in need of housing support, these bills do not deliver that. That is the mark of a Labor government: pledges, platitudes and promises, and then dithering, delays and nondeliveries. In fact, I've been on my feet in this place and said, 'Labor, what do they do? They promise you the world. And what do they give you? They give you an atlas.'

In a moment I'll address each of the bills individually, but I want to show the contrast between the coalition's approach to housing and that of this government. During our last three years in government, the coalition's housing policies supported more than 300,000 Australians in the purchase of a home. Let me say that again. In the last term of a coalition government, more than 300,000 Australians were assisted in the purchase of a home.

We on this side of the House believe in the Menzies tradition of the great Australian dream of trying to enable as many Australians as humanly possible to afford to buy their own home, and we had some terrific policies, like the Home Guarantee Scheme. And I should point out that the former Assistant Treasurer and now shadow housing minister did an absolutely sterling job when he was the minister in those portfolios. The Home Guarantee Scheme supported eligible home buyers to purchase a new or existing home with a deposit as low as five per cent. As most of us would know, you ordinarily need a loan-to-value ratio of 80 to 20. So you need a 20 per cent deposit. When we, the coalition, were in government, our policy enabled people to buy their own home through the federal government effectively guaranteeing the performance of that 15 per cent. It enabled people to get in with as little as a five per cent deposit. Most young people will tell you that their biggest impediment to buying a home is saving a sufficient deposit. The coalition government's policy in our home guarantee program answered that problem. Over 10,400 Queenslanders benefited from this scheme, and 52 per cent were women and 20 per cent were essential workers, such as teachers and nurses.

We all know that housing is a huge problem in this country. For a country that is so incredibly huge, one almost finds it incredible that housing could be such a problem. But supply is one of the biggest problems that we have, and so is red tape. Many of those supply and red-tape issues are driven by state planning instruments and local governments. But, as I said, 10,400 Queenslanders benefited from this home guarantee program. Fifty-two per cent were women and 20 per cent were essential workers.

The Family Home Guarantee went even better. The Family Home Guarantee empowered single-parent families with children to buy their first home or to re-enter the housing market with a deposit as low as two per cent. This was a scheme which delivered real outcomes for the long-term financial security and housing security of single-parent families. Just like many young people would say their biggest impediment was their inability to raise a deposit of 20 per cent, single parents, who often struggle financially to make ends meet, find it very, very, difficult to save up that deposit. With the Family Home Guarantee, the coalition government provided meaningful support to people who were in difficult positions. Eighty-five per cent of the recipients of the Family Home Guarantee were single mums.

We didn't just talk the talk on delivering for Australians; we delivered. That is what good governments do. Through the First Home Super Saver Scheme, we helped 27,600 first home buyers accelerate their deposits through super, recognising that their super is their money. Everybody would remember the HomeBuilder program. I can remember being on the other side in this place when the then minister for housing introduced the necessary legislation to kick off the HomeBuilder program. The now Treasurer, who was the then the shadow Treasurer, stood here and said, 'This program will never work.' The now Treasurer lambasted the HomeBuilder program and said it would never work.

Coming from the building industry, I had building industry colleagues and friends coming to me and pleading with me in about March or April 2020 that we needed to do something to spur the construction industry along because they were facing an economic cliff in around August of 2020. Their contracts were drying up. To his credit, the now shadow Assistant Treasurer, in conjunction with industry bodies, came up with the HomeBuilder program. We were able to support 30,000 Queenslanders into building their homes under this package—homes in new estates like Baringa, Nirimba, Palmview and Bokrina in the electorate of Fisher—through HomeBuilder alone. This was terrific, not just providing homes for people but providing unbelievably successful economic stimulus during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a $120 billion boost to the economy, supporting nearly 375,000 full-time jobs. The now Treasurer, who is responsible for guiding this country through difficult economic times, stood up here in the chamber and said it would never work.

Even in opposition today, we are pushing for housing reform. We have announced our super home buyer scheme which will allow first home buyers to invest up to 40 per cent of their superannuation, up to a maximum of $50,000, to help with the purchase of their first home. That is what a coalition government does. Those opposite just don't get it, do they? They don't get that it's people's own money. The current government think they know better.

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