Page 1546 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 7 May 2008
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We can go through the list. I can give an update to the Assembly on the cheapest house in Banks that we have been looking at over a period of time. The cheapest house in Banks at the moment, a three-bedroom home, is now a dual-occupancy, with an advertised price of $319,000 to $339,000.
We go through the amount of stamp duty that most families are being forced to pay under this mob. We start at $320,000. The stamp duty under Labor can be up to $10,600 if they are not getting any of the exemptions. Of course we know most of them are not.
Mr Barr: Some 5,906 people have got the concession.
MR SESELJA: And how much are they getting? They are getting nothing. The $380,000, which is not at the high end of the market, is where it cuts out. Go to $400,000. They are paying $15,000 in stamp duty, getting no exemptions whatsoever, regardless of what their income is. Unlike the Chief Minister who believes they should be forced into smaller and smaller blocks, they should be forced into terrace-style housing, we actually believe that they should have some choice. We actually believe that they should have some choice as to what kind of home to buy.
We know that, for many families looking to buy, it is inappropriate. Many of these houses are simply inappropriate and many of these people would much prefer not to have to take on a mortgage of $350,000-plus to buy a home for $380,000 or $400,000. We know that the only family homes available in Tuggeranong or in Belconnen are in that price range. This government simply does not get it. It does not care because it continues to gouge first homebuyers in order to prop up its budget bottom line. That is what we have seen in relation to stamp duty. We have a clear promise that will give genuine relief to first homebuyers and this government has no plan to assist first homebuyers.
We hear the 63 measures that are talked about. This government wants to force them onto smaller and smaller blocks. It acknowledges, in fact, how badly it has managed the process when it is talking about land rent. That is an acknowledgement of failure, because it is saying to these people on lower incomes, “We acknowledge that you are never going to be able to buy a home. You can rent. We will find another way for you to rent.”
Of course we know that there are issues in relation to how finance will actually be provided when there is not the security that there otherwise would be that goes with land. This scheme may well have some vision. We will look closely at it. We, unlike the government, are open to possibilities for helping first homebuyers. This government has rejected out of hand a plan that would significantly assist first homebuyers by cutting the amount of stamp duty that they are paying.
If we go to the issue of land release, we have the Chief Minister on the one hand claiming that this is an affordable jurisdiction; yet we see his panicked response to our stamp duty plan where he suddenly decides that he can find 15,000 blocks to release over a period of time—4,200 in the next financial year. What does this say, other than
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