Page 579 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 2019
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country. They are never going to own a home. They are going to rent for their entire life, and they want to make a home out of their rental property. You seem to refer to students in everything you do, as if students are the only renters you have ever heard of.
Mrs Dunne: I was the only person who mentioned students.
MR PETTERSSON: You did. What we have seen in this country is a generation of permanent renters created, and these people will never own a home. It saddens me to stand here and say this, but they will never own a home. What we are trying to do is create laws and rules that allow these people to have a home.
These people, if our current laws stand, will never be able to own a dog. If you find one rental property that allows you to own a dog or another pet, that is great, but renters know, and you should know as a former renter, Mr Parton, that just because you find one property where you can own a pet does not mean you will be able to find another one. Far too often, renters who want to get a pet do not make that decision because they know that if they ever have to move, which is the life of renters, they will not be able to keep their dog.
The other thing that frustrates me so much about this debate is the idea that these are drastic changes. The idea that hanging a picture frame will cause someone to sell an investment property is ludicrous. It is genuinely ludicrous. We know that speculative property investors are investing in the housing market because they are making sweet, sweet money out of it.
Housing prices have gone up in this country because speculative property investors keep buying into the market. About 20 years ago, house prices became detached from wages. Do you know what has not become detached from wages? Rent. Rent has continued at the same rate as wages but house prices have skyrocketed. That tells me one thing: people are investing in property not because of the returns from rent but because they know of the capital gains they are going to receive on their investment.
I want to talk about the second-class system that we have created in this country. Being a permanent renter is something that now exists in this country. It used to be the Australian dream that you could one day save up enough money to buy a house with a white picket fence. You would probably have a family, some kids, and you would own a pet.
I am a politician. I get great money. The chances are I will be like a lot of you and own some investment properties in a few years, because politicians make sweet, sweet coin. Most of my friends, people who are teachers and nurses, are not going to own investment properties. If they are lucky and they can go to the bank of mum and dad, they might be able to get a home loan. But the ones that are not so lucky are going to be renting. And these are not just students like you think they are; these are hardworking Canberrans that you come across every day. They don’t talk about their housing struggles. It is not something we talk about. No-one likes to go to a barbecue on the weekend and say, “I’m really struggling to pay rent or save up for a mortgage.” We do not talk about that.
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