Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Housing

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (11:43): I move:

That this house notes that:

(1) Melbourne and all of Victoria is in a housing crisis;

(2) the cost of building a new home is set to rise with the introduction of new minimum efficiency standards which will increase costs for volume builders by 8 to 10 per cent;

(3) these new standards will not be offset by decreased energy bills, with around a 208-year return on investment for home owners;

(4) up to 42 per cent of the cost of a new home in Victoria consists of taxes, fees, and charges;

(5) Victoria raises the highest combined property tax revenue per person out of all the states;

(6) Labor introduced the vacant home tax, the affordable housing tax, the holiday tax and the vacant residential land tax and the rent tax and increased the fire services property levy, increased land tax and stamp duty, and has now floated another tax, a homeowner tax on every single home statewide; and

(7) Labor has no plan for housing affordability, just a plan to tax Victorians.

I rise to speak on my motion today because I think it is important to note for this house that we are in a housing crisis but also the contributing factors to that housing crisis and the effect and impact that this government – this decade-old, tired, exhausted Labor government – has had on the housing crisis. I want to particularly point out the impact of taxes in regard to the housing crisis. I want to point to research from the Urban Development Institute of Australia Victoria that came out recently. They note that in Victoria 42 per cent of every home built is made up of taxes, levies and charges from this state government. When you go to buy a new home, it is this state government that is making the housing affordability crisis worse. It is this state government that has introduced and jacked up windfall gains tax. It is this state government that has introduced new land tax and new regulations and red tape that are impacting on young people’s ability to find a new home and that are impacting on migrant families and their ability to find and buy a new home. More and more taxes will only damage the housing affordability crisis. Even the Treasurer has admitted recently that the property sector has reached its limit on new taxes, in a plea of desperation to the Premier to stop spending money. Actually he seemed like he was opposed to the government’s attempt to bail out hospitals.

We see crisis after crisis, particularly in the housing sector. In 2012 property taxes were responsible for less than 18 per cent of all state government tax income. Over the past decade this has risen relentlessly to over half of the state’s tax revenue and is forecast to remain high in the 40 per cent range for the next four years, showing a broken system. The Urban Development Institute of Australia’s research shows that 42 per cent of a new home is made up of taxes, fees, levies and charges. On an average Melbourne home, over $420,000 of that cost goes to various levels of government. There is no doubting the direct link between development taxes and charges and house prices. And Victorian families are forced to borrow to pay for these charges, meaning that 42 per cent of every mortgage repayment goes to paying the government. I do not think the government is spending that taxpayer money very well – money that could otherwise be spent supporting local businesses and creating jobs, money that could get more young people into the housing market.

We see new energy efficiency standards, which experts have said will add around $35,000 to the cost of a new home in the middle of a housing crisis. We all want more energy-efficient homes. We already have a 6-star energy efficiency standard, and there comes a point where efficiency standards are not worth the cost. In fact the government will say that these efficiency standards and the extra cost involved – and they do acknowledge that there are extra costs involved, of course there are – will be returned to them in the cost of their power bills. But we know from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria that these new standards will not be offset by decreased energy bills, with around a 208-year return on investment for home owners. A 208-year return on investment – ‘Don’t worry, Mum and Dad from Donnybrook, we’re going to put in these standards, we’re going to add $35,000 to the cost of your new home, and you’ll have to wait 208 years to get a return on investment.’ These are ridiculous rules.

We saw what the Premier would like to call a backflip. We know there was briefing in the lead-up to that Herald Sun article on gas that the Premier was going to take the Minister for Energy and Resources, Ms D’Ambrosio, for a walk. She was the next minister after Pallas and then after Symes on crime, and it was briefed out, probably by the Premier’s private office, that the minister for energy would be next to be taken for a walk. Obviously the Premier has confronted reality. We saw a splash on the front page of the Herald Sun saying gas stovetops are safe. There is a problem with that, though, with their Gas Substitution Roadmap – because they still want to tax the bejesus out of you for replacing your gas heating and replacing your gas hot water – that you will have to change, and it will cost tens of thousands of dollars to do so, but you can keep your gas stovetop. It does not make sense. It will actually add more cost to consumers.

Also what this government is doing is discriminating against people living in growth areas – living in places like Donnybrook, places like Woodstock, places like Greenvale, places like Beveridge, places like Wallan, places like Wyndham Vale and places like Melton. They are discriminating against people living in growth areas by saying to them, ‘You can’t have gas in your home,’ denying them the energy choices we all need. The Premier now says energy choices are really, really important, but clearly not enough for people doing a knockdown rebuild, for people moving into a new apartment building, for people renovating their home, to be able to still keep cooking with gas. The Premier says that you can keep your gas stovetops. You cannot keep anything else that is gas related. In fact the minister for energy has said some ridiculous things about gas, calling it fossil gas and quoting so-called health experts about the risk of having a gas stovetop in your home. The Premier seems to think that is all right now, so that shows the dysfunction on that side of the chamber. I know they are all very concerned about the front page of the Age today, and so they should be, because the Premier has backed down on crime, now on gas and on duck hunting thankfully. Despite their backdowns on a number of issues, annoying their left-wing backbench, they have not recovered their position at all. What they are doing is adding to the cost of new homes, making it harder for people to have energy choices, adding $35,000 to the cost of a new home.

But I want to go to their so-called housing statement. We are big on anniversaries on this side of the chamber. I am actually coming up to my two-year anniversary of being in this place. But an anniversary we are coming up to is the anniversary of the so-called housing statement. Remember that? The government spent months preparing it and months briefing out about how fantastic this housing statement was going to be. They came out and they said, ‘We’re going to build 80,000 homes each and every year for the next 10 years in an 800,000-over-10-year target’ only to have in the last round of estimates hearings the secretary Jeremi Moule having to clean up after this government and state that it is not a commitment to 80,000 homes a year but actually 800,000 over 10 years. Well, I actually kept the receipts. I often keep receipts – you know, tax time comes around and you have got to collect them all and put them in, so I enjoy keeping receipts. The housing statement website until recently actually said that Victoria’s Housing Statement: The Decade Ahead 2024–2034 focuses on five key areas to tackle housing supply and affordability in Victoria and that it aims to deliver 80,000 homes each and every year across the state. Many government websites specifically stated this. I note the Premier herself said on 3 October in the Parliament:

… as part of that effort to build 80,000 homes a year, each and every year, for the next 10 years …

On 3 October 2023 the Premier said that in Parliament.

We had Ms Shing saying it on multiple occasions – five I believe: 30 November, 16 November, 2 November, 4 October and 3 October 2023. All were specifically stating in Hansard from that place ‘80,000 homes a year – that is the plan.’ Well, they have actually gone backwards since last year, only delivering in the low 50,000s. So we are meant to believe that the government can hit that target but also get to 800,000 over the next 10 years, which is what they have committed to – they believe that they can somehow make up for that and get to 800,000. Well, I have got a harbour bridge to sell them!

But we know that many other members have specifically talked about the 80,000-homes-a-year target. Gary Maas specifically mentioned it – it is in Hansard on 2 November 2023 – and Tim Richardson. We are talking about all outgoing members here, because they will be gone by 2026. Anthony Cianflone on 19 October 2023 – and if Dr Ratnam does not get up in Wills, you can bet she will be the candidate for Pascoe Vale at the next election – mentioned 80,000 homes a year, each and every year. But of course our good friend Mr McIntosh on 2 May this year – not too long ago – said:

That is why 80,000 homes a year will be built over the next 10 years in addition to significant reforms to renting …

Mr McIntosh has clearly misled the Parliament. Jeremi Moule disagrees with him. The government now disagrees with him. Every government website has been wiped of the ‘80,000 a year’. Perhaps Mr McIntosh will send an email to Hansard correcting the record – that he did not mean to say that in his speaking notes.

Bev McArthur interjected.

Evan MULHOLLAND: That is right. So you have got a load of members that have clearly misled the house. Now they want to clear all their websites and clear the cache of all the ‘80,000 homes a year’ mentions, but they still appear on the premier.vic.gov.au website and their media releases – which cannot really be deleted, can they? There they mention the 80,000 homes a year target. This government cannot be trusted on its promises.

There was a good example of that recently. It took them about five or six months to prepare for the housing statement, the anniversary of which is coming up, and that was supposedly done with wide industry consultation. They signed an affordability partnership with the significant stakeholders in the sector as part of the housing statement to bring everyone into the tent. That fell apart about a few days after the state budget when they decided to massively jack up land tax. They are meant to be working with the sector to deliver these homes, but then they massively jacked up land tax, impacting on the entire sector.

We saw recently that they were wanting to clean up after that, so they pulled together a round of stakeholders for a bit of a love-in, a housing summit. They have clearly got someone from Kevin Rudd’s old Prime Minister’s office working in the Premier’s private office to come up with an idea like that. We saw that Jacinta Allan convened this with the property sector but that Labor members and ministers walked out before the sector had even spoken. They were supposed to be gathering everyone in to talk about how they can alleviate the housing crisis that is impacting on all Victorians, but all they have done is fail to deliver 80,000 homes each and every year and then have their ministers that are responsible for housing literally walk out before the property sector got the chance to be listened to. They would have told you the impact of the land tax on the property sector, they would have told you of the impact of regulations and red tape on the property sector and they would have told you that there is no way you can meet 80,000 homes a year. In fact there is no way you can meet 800 homes each and every year. So the Allan government convened a meeting to listen but walked out on the sector before they even had a chance to speak. They have broken their promise on 80,000 homes a year. Only Labor could hold a meeting in aid of trying to fix a problem and walk out before trying to solve it. It is this government that is making the housing crisis worse.

But what is really at the bottom of this I think is the fact that this government is now desperately putting out media releases and saying they are consulting with the community, trying to clean up after their failed, eight-year Minister for Planning Richard Wynne. They have completely distanced themselves from him, after going around town talking about protecting neighbourhood character and putting mandatory height limits in places like Brunswick. For whichever member wanted a mandatory height limit, you bet Richard Wynne wanted it. They now speak to us about protecting development in our seats, yet Richard Wynne went all around town in Labor seats protecting Labor seats and introducing mandatory height limits, stopping developments and lining up – including when he was in opposition – with some grey-haired locals for the Age to talk about overdevelopment in our community and how terrible the Liberals are.

Well, I will give you some facts. The Liberals approved more homes in our four years in government than Labor have approved in 10 years. We are the party that approved more homes in four years of our time in government than Labor has in 10 years. That massively reduced and alleviated pressures in regard to housing affordability and rents. I know Mr Galea and Mr McIntosh are desperately trying to distance themselves from Richard Wynne, but he went around blocking developments wherever he could, even in places like Brunswick. We know that he sided with the old City of Moreland, which many on that side of the chamber will be familiar with – I think Dr Ratnam was even mayor – against our plans to actually boost development in the area. Now they want to go around saying they are the kings of development. Now they want to go around saying that they are on the side of young people with their changes.

Business interrupted pursuant to sessional orders.