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Do you support the RTA's proposal for a footbridge across the Spit?
| Duties Amendment (First Home Plus One) Bill 2007 |
| Wednesday, 06 June 2007 | ||||||
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Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [9.03 p.m.]: I lead for the Opposition on the Duties Amendment (First Home Plus One) Bill. The Opposition will not oppose this bill but it believes that the Iemma Government should be doing much more to provide incentives for home purchasers. There is a huge housing affordability problem in this State and we currently face a shortfall in new home construction and housing approvals, which are at their lowest for more than 30 years. Development company AV Jennings recently said that its sales performance was being hindered in New South Wales by State and local government charges on greenfield residential developments and that a lack of land releases had worsened the problem. State Government charges on new house and land packages are restrictively high and account for 14 per cent of the total cost of a new house and land package in Sydney's north- west. Therefore, the Government must take action in the State budget that will reduce the high taxes—taxes that are continuing to drive developers, homeowners and renters out of the New South Wales housing market. The Iemma Government should back the Coalition's land and payroll tax cut policy announced during the last election campaign. It could top up the First Home Plus grant from $7,000 to $10,000, which would cost the Government $90 million over two years. We heard today that $90 million was spent on advertising in the 12 months before the election. The grant increase would create demand for an additional 2,000 homes and up to 2,800 job opportunities. Labor should also introduce the Coalition's policy on stamp duty. Establishing a stamp duty concession of $4,000 for investors would provide rental accommodation and would boost rental accommodation stock at the affordable end of the market. The Government can and should go further. The Coalition calls on the Iemma Government to introduce a shared equity scheme for low- to moderate-income earners similar to that introduced by the Western Australian Government earlier this year. That Government is another role model for this Government. Indeed, the idea originally came from our dear friends at the Menzies Institute. The First Start Program is open to means-tested Western Australian first home buyers and allows the Government to take a share in the purchase of a home while providing a low-interest loan for the remaining portion. Under the scheme, the Western Australian Department of Housing and Works purchases up to 40 per cent of the price of a home for families with incomes under $60,000, up to 30 per cent for couples on a combined income of less than $50,000, and up to 30 per cent for singles with incomes less than $35,000. The scheme covers properties with a maximum value of $365,000 and homebuyers can purchase the department's share of the property as finances permit. As an added incentive First Start participants are entirely exempt from stamp duty, saving families about $8,000 on the purchase of a $350,000 home. This Government prides itself on being the friend of Western Sydney. This policy would benefit people across Sydney, but it would be of particular benefit to families that are struggling to buy their own home in Western Sydney. I commend it to the Government. First Start borrowers must be owner-occupiers and qualify for the Federal Government's First Home Owner Grant, which makes sense. As in New South Wales, Western Australia's property market has huge affordability problems. However, unlike the New South Wales Government, the Western Australian Government had the foresight to do something about it. It has taken a big step and impacted on up to 1,000 homebuyers a year. The Coalition believes the New South Wales Government has not only a clear incentive for such a program but also the means to fund it. We have heard about the money spent on advertising, and we recommend that the Government review that spending. The Government spent $1.29 billion over 2004-05 on shared corporate services, or 4 per cent of budget, compared with the 2 per cent spent on the private sector equivalent. That back end of government is costing the taxpayers of this State $600 million a year. It is propping up an archaic bureaucracy that has 1,200 clerks administering government payrolls and a process for paying invoices that is four times more expensive than the same service in the private sector. Those figures have been taken from the Government's own documents. The Coalition is calling on the Government to find savings and to spend that money improving housing affordability, particularly in Western Sydney. Despite outlining a review of the shared corporate services, the Government has yet to commit to a time frame. I ask the Government to commit to a timetable for the review and to make it happen. The Opposition calls on the Government to put the $600 million being thrown away into a First Start-style system that will finally make it easier for homebuyers to enter the market. If the Government is looking for a solution to increase housing affordability it should adopt this scheme. This is a real policy solution that will encourage home ownership. Add to: Write Comment
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