Tuesday, 23 May 2023

Housing affordability

Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (12:25): My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, why is the government allowing business to benefit from replacing stamp duty with land tax by removing upfront costs but not people who are struggling to afford a home?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (12:26): I thank the member from Prahran for his question. I am looking forward to talking about the great aspects of the budget, but now is not the time to do it. I will wait of course until the budget is delivered before I deal with questions that deal with the budget.

Danny Pearson interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Assistant Treasurer will come to order.

Sam Hibbins: On a point of order, Speaker, the question was based on a media release that the government put out last night. This information is in the public domain, and I would ask you to ask the Treasurer to answer the question.

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer has concluded his answer.

Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (12:27): Experts, economists, housing advocates are all saying that replacing stamp duty is a critical element of housing reform to address the housing crisis. How much worse does the housing crisis have to get before the government implements this reform?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (12:27): I thank the member for his supplementary question. I would make the point that if the Greens political party is interested in the housing shortfall that this community confronts, perhaps they can talk to some of their colleagues in the inner-city councils who do all they can to frustrate and avoid the capacity for us to build social and public housing in these communities. Perhaps they would have recognised that this government has been doing an enormous amount for a very long and consistent time in supporting a fair go for renters in making an effort to ensure that this community is properly served by a government that takes action to take a share in equity to get people on that first rung of home ownership. We recognise that we need more supply into the market, and we are doing more about that as a government. Our Homes for Victorians policy – we have a well-established track record, one we are proud of and one which I am looking forward to saying a lot more about very soon.