Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

There was a time in this country when the great Australian dream of homeownership was the birthright of every Australian. But, with the housing affordability crisis, that dream is slipping away before our eyes. We all know it. We hear the stories of despair in our electorates every day of young people and young families being shut out of the property market. That's why I introduced into this parliament my first private members' bill, which would ban foreign property speculators from buying homes and units in Australia for two years. Many countries have already introduced such a law, including our Commonwealth cousins in Canada and Singapore.

Since the COVID pandemic, the activities of overseas property speculators have been ramping up big time. The National Australia Bank's recent residential property survey found that the market share of foreign buyers in new Australian housing markets in October to December 2023 grew, for the fifth straight quarter, to a 6½ year high of 11 per cent. In New South Wales, foreign buyers had a 15 per cent market share. We could make thousands of new homes and units available to Australians immediately, without having to take years to build them, by putting a pause on foreign property speculation and giving more Australians their shot at the great Australian dream. This is not about turning our backs on the world; it's about putting the interests of Australians struggling to get into the market ahead of the interests of cashed-up foreign property speculators.

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