Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Earlier this year the chief executive of the Housing Industry Association, Graham Wolfe said:

Adding another five per cent, or more, on top of the price of a new home will put housing out of reach of many people that are trying desperately to get into the market.

Can the Prime Minister explain why he thinks it is fair to make buying a house even more expensive by increasing the GST?

Mr Ewen Jones interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Herbert is now warned!

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can only refer the honourable member to the numerous answers that I have given to the proposition that is constantly being put by the opposition, that the government is planning to impose a 15 per cent GST. The government has no plans to do that. We are looking at a whole range of tax reform measures, and his rather feeble efforts to get us to rule something in or something out—to salami-slice the whole—

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

The interjections! The honourable member for Isaacs! I mentioned Neville Wran earlier today, who I miss—he was a great friend. He was also very witty, but he had a very good point to make that I always think of when the member for Isaacs interjects—that anyone can go to jail if they get the right lawyer! It is beyond feeble!

Now getting back to the critical point that the Treasurer spoke about a moment ago, which was housing affordability. That is a very, very big issue. There has been a huge amount of work done on housing affordability over many years, and it is quite clear what the problem is. The problem is that we are not building enough dwellings in Australia. Supply is not meeting demand. That is particularly so in Sydney, where it is more of a problem than it is, for example, in either Melbourne or Brisbane.

The big obstacles are planning laws and systems, where it takes too long to get consent—to get a DA. Many developers have told me it takes three times as long to get a DA in Sydney as it does in Brisbane, for example. That is why the types of reforms that the Treasurer is seeking to achieve with the states—and, obviously, planning is very much in the realm of state and local governments—are so important. The best thing that we can do to assist the members of the Housing Industry Association—

Mr Husic interjecting—

in delivering more dwellings is to ensure that the planning system ceases to be so arteriosclerotic that supply cannot meet demand. That is the fundamental problem.

Reform in this area is something that has been left undone for far too long. We have known for well over a decade what the problem is: we need more dwellings. I can assure you that insofar as we can we will endeavour to get the planning system freed up so that housing becomes more affordable.