Stamp duty
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:49): (1973) My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer, and the action that I seek is for the Treasurer to bring parity to the stamp duty exemption cap for first home buyers along the New South Wales–Victorian border. There are 200,000 reasons why this needs to happen now – that is the difference in stamp duty free thresholds for properties that, while separated by the river border in neighbouring cities, are in reality the same community. In New South Wales the stamp duty free threshold for Albury and its suburbs is $800,000; in Wodonga it is $600,000. This is the same community where people crisscross the border for work and recreation. Property values are almost identical. In the Albury suburb of Thurgoona the average property price is $679,500; in Wodonga’s growth corridor of Leneva it is $680,000, but if you buy your first home in Leneva in Victoria you pay about $18,000 extra in state government stamp duty. Over in Thurgoona the charge is zero. If you factor in the federal first home guarantee program, a first home buyer in Wodonga, Leneva, Baranduda or Killara is paying more than $45,000 more in duties than their New South Wales neighbours. The cap on the scheme that removes the need for mortgage insurance for people with just a 5 per cent deposit is $800,000 in Albury but just $650,000 in Wodonga. The difference is inexplicable, but the difference forces the Wodonga first home buyer to find another $27,000. Property is not cheap in Albury or Wodonga; prices reflect a demand driven by cashed-up remote investors attracted by substantial rental yields in both cities. I have heard stories of remote investors paying well above the asking price to get into the border property market. The ultimate effect is that it remains incredibly tough to buy your first home on the border and more than $45,000 tougher if that home is on the Victorian side of the border.
The Commonwealth has responsibility for the part it plays in this, but it is Victoria’s stamp duty caps that need to be amended in this place. People on the border deal with these anomalies every day, but they are often ignored by citycentric Labor ministers. The government should never bring a bill into this place before the responsible minister has closely considered the consequences for cross-border communities. Victorian government departments and agencies should be required to consider and compare regulatory settings in neighbouring states when proposing new rules and legislation. Had this happened with stamp duty concession, Victoria would be more competitive for first home buyers on the border and generally fairer overall. All Victorians, especially those living in the border communities, should know that the Battin Liberal government will scrap stamp duty for first home buyers on all properties up to $1 million.