Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Social and affordable housing

Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (17:36): (1747) I wish to raise a matter for the attention of the Treasurer. I have been appalled in recent days to hear reports of a planned tax that he wants to impose on first home buyers. I find this quite astonishing. Indeed I have spoken to a number of my constituents over recent days who are deeply distressed about this particular tax because, as we know, getting into your first home is not an easy thing for anyone to do. It is a challenge, and for $15 000 or $20 000 to be put on top of the price of a home when you are so close is just heartbreaking. In fact what it is doing is crushing the dreams of tens of thousands of people, particularly in the western suburbs. There are a lot of families in the western suburbs that are saving for their homes—they are scrimping; they are really just trying to get the money together to get into their own home—and along comes the Treasurer and along comes the Premier, who slap another $20 000 on top of the price. What an extraordinary thing to do.

As I say, this is heartbreaking, particularly to those young couples who are seeking to get their home, young couples maybe with a kiddie or two. They are desperately keen to get their own home, and if anybody has been out the back of Werribee, down near Sunbury or anywhere in the west in recent times—anywhere between Caroline Springs or anywhere around there—you will know that the number of new homes going up is quite amazing. But what we do not need is another impost such as the one that is being proposed by the Premier and the Treasurer. This will destroy the hopes of many, many young people and many, many perhaps not-so-young people as well who are very keen to get into their own homes. I think an added tax on home ownership is disgraceful.

Members interjecting.

Mr FINN: It is scandalous, as Mrs McArthur says. And they are, as Ms Crozier says, socialists. They have run out of money, so they are coming after ours, and that is the bottom line. But why would you pick on first home buyers? Why would you do that? I mean, if you are a socialist and you want people to live in social housing and you want to be able to control them, I suppose this is what you would do. But I think it is disgraceful, and what I am asking the Treasurer to do is to get this planned tax, to rip it up, to burn it, to throw it in the bin and just forget the whole thing was ever thought of.