Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all have hopes and dreams in our lives. It may be to run a marathon, to find a more fulfilling job or to purchase your first home. But stepping out of our comfort zone and making changes to pursue our dreams can be too big a step for many. Sometimes people just need some guidance or a nudge in the right direction.

Recently I visited Taipan Hydraulic Hose Systems, a local industrial business in my electorate of Longman. Taipan employs around 60 people across four branches, with its flagship branch in Caboolture employing around half of those staff. The company's owner, Allan Sandilands, along with his daughter Amy, like the majority of small business owners I speak to, has a managerial philosophy of always taking good care of his staff. So, when COVID hit early last year, Allan did everything possible to ensure that his staff were being looked after. Allan learnt about a rather unorthodox method of achieving this, through hiring a 'dream manager'—something I had never heard of. Dream managers operate on the idea that helping employees achieve their dreams can indirectly improve the results of a company.

As it turned out, quite a few of Allan's staff wanted to achieve the Australian dream of owning their own home. Sadly, for many young people in my electorate, owning their own home seemed like an unattainable dream, something they would never be able to achieve. But, thanks to Allan and his dream manager, Tianah, along with the federal government's HomeBuilder grant, there are now seven people working at Taipan who are building their first home. How good is that! Without that HomeBuilder grant and Allan's help this would not have been possible. It also goes without saying that, if employees feel that they are appreciated by their boss, it makes them happier and they are more productive at work.

Recently released data has shown what a massive impact the HomeBuilder grant is having right across Australia, but particularly in Longman. Longman has become one of the fastest-growing areas in Queensland, if not Australia. There are some massive new housing estates underway and many more in the pipeline—Riverbank, in South Caboolture, North Harbour, Morayfield East and Narangba Heights, just to name a few. Across Australia at the end of last December, more than 75,000 households had applied for a HomeBuilder grant, with 80 per cent of those applicants to construct a new home. In Queensland, 13,507 households have applied to build a new home under the HomeBuilder grant. A further 3,016 applied to rebuild an existing home. HomeBuilder has also created new work for builders and tradies when they needed it most.

Many Australians, like those employees at Taipan in Caboolture, who have dreamed of building their own home but never thought it would be possible are now achieving their dreams thanks to the federal government's HomeBuilder grant and great employers like Allan and Taipan Hydraulic Hose Systems.