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

I rise tonight to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024 and the Capital Works (Build to Rent Misuse Tax) Bill 2024. I will briefly set out the seven schedules before I descend into a bit of detail. Along with the Capital Works (Build to Rent Misuse Tax) Bill, schedule 1 implements tax incentives for build-to-rent developments, and an associated misuse tax as a compliance measure for incorrect claims against the BTR concession. Schedule 2 implements long-awaited regulatory reforms for the buy-now pay-later sector. Schedule 3 implements a Medicare levy exemption for lump sum payments. Schedule 4 implements public country-by-country tax reporting for multinational companies with a commercial presence in Australia. Schedule 5 legislates the budget measure to list entities as deductible gift recipients. Schedule 6 amends the Federal Financial Relations Act to give effect to payments to the states, associated with 23 October national skills agreement and any success agreements. Schedule 7 extends the instant asset write-off at an asset cap of $20,000 for the 2024-25 financial year.

In relation to the build-to-rent scheme, every Australian knows just how hard—it doesn't matter where in the country you are living. Everywhere, everybody I speak to is talking about not just a cost-of-living crisis but a housing crisis. When I was the Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I did a very detailed inquiry into housing and homelessness, and we identified the wall of problems that was heading our way. I'm really sad to say that we are nowhere more advanced in relation to resolving those problems; in fact, it's worse. Madam Deputy Speaker Sharkie, I know that you know just how bad is in regions and electorates like yours. But it's not confined just to country areas or remote areas; it's in our cities as well.

I was speaking to a constituent just last night who, sadly, is going through a divorce. She's a nurse with two young kids, and she was talking about when she would have to sell the family home. She was saying: 'Where am I going to live? I've got two little kids, two little girls. I'm going to end up with virtually nothing out of the marriage, and where am I going to live?' She's a nurse. So does that mean one of our frontline workers has to move to Gympie, Kingaroy or somewhere else? The problem with the Sunshine Coast, as beautiful as it is, is that it's being loved to death. Everybody wants to move to the Sunshine Coast, and prices have gone through the roof. You can't buy a house on the Sunshine Coast now—even the most terrible house—for under $700,000. It's really almost impossible to rent a home now for under $500 a week. Organisations like ACOSS tell us—and I think it's pretty well accepted—if you are spending more than 30 per cent of your income on either rent or mortgage payments, you are in housing distress.

A report came out just recently—just this week—that talked about the Sunshine Coast in particular. It said that frontline essential workers like police, like nurses, on a single income like the lady I was talking about, are priced out of not only buying a home but even renting a home on the Sunshine Coast now. If you are a single-income earner and you're an essential worker, you can't live on the Sunshine Coast. That is an absolute tragedy. It's an absolute tragedy because how are we going to get our police? How are we going to get our nurses? It's all well and good for us—and I am fortunate in that I own my own home and we are seeing significant increases in value in homes—but I really despair for the young people like the young woman that I was speaking to last night. I despair for my adult kids. I don't know how they're ever going to buy their own home if they haven't got one now. I've got only one out of four who's got their own home. This is a wicked problem.

Those members opposite talked the big talk about how they were going to make housing cheaper. How can those members opposite talk about making housing cheaper when interest rates have gone up 12 times under their watch? On 12 occasions interest rates have gone up. Do you know what the value of the average mortgage in Australia is now?

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