Labor and Coalition make duelling pitches to first home buyers
We’ve heard housing announcements from both major parties today aimed at first home buyers. Here is a recap of what each is offering:
Labor has announced a $10bn plan to help build 100,000 new homes nationwide for first home buyers.
Under the plan, Labor would open the program to all first home buyers, allowing them to secure a home with only a 5% deposit, with the government guaranteeing part. It will also announce moves to help buyers avoid pricey mortgage insurance.
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, said the sods on the developments would begin turning in the 2026-27 financial year and homeowners would start moving in the year after. She also said the homes “in all likelihood” would be income tested.
Meanwhile, the Coalition would allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes, the ABC reported. The policy would mean a family with an average income would be about $11,000 a year better off – or $55,000 over five years.
We’ll bring you more details on the Coalition’s plan as we learn more.
Key events
Labor MP says Coalition’s housing plan would help people ‘already able to get on property ladder’
Labor MP and resources minister Madeleine King has also just spoken with the ABC, about the duelling housing policies put forward by the major parties today for first-home buyers.
Asked how attractive the Coalition’s policy will be to voters weighing up the two policies, King said that given the “back flips we’ve seen from the Coalition, I wouldn’t be surprised if this policy lasts the week – or doesn’t last the week.”
We’ll see how that goes. We do have to see the detail. But what it looks like is that this is helping people who are already able to get on that ladder, and that’s great for those people. But there are a lot of people who can’t get on to that housing ladder, and that’s what Labor’s policy is going to enable.
Paterson dodges questions about Price’s Maga remark
James Paterson was also asked about Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s remarks yesterday that she wants to “make Australia great again”.
Was this an unwelcome comment? He responded:
Australia is a great country already but we don’t have the best government in the world, and frankly we need to change the government at the next election if we want to get our country back on track.
Would he use this phrase himself? Paterson dodged the question:
The Liberal party and the National party will get inflation down, build more homes and keep Australians safe. Only by voting for your Liberal and Nationals candidate can you get our country back on track.
Is Australia already great at the moment? Paterson repeated himself and said:
I think it is a great country but we don’t have the greatest government in the world, that’s for sure.
Paterson says Dutton will give more details on Coalition housing policy at campaign launch today
The Coalition’s campaign spokesperson, James Paterson, is speaking with the ABC right now and asked about its policy – as reported by the ABC – to allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes.
Paterson said he had seen “speculation in the media this morning about a pending future announcement from the Coalition”.
It certainly sounds like a very exciting and potentially transformative policy for first home buyers, but it is not my role as campaign spokesman to announce policies before my colleagues … If your viewers stay tuned into ABC for the next 50 minutes or so they will hear more from Peter Dutton about this and many other areas of policy from the Coalition.
Dutton is in Sydney today for the Liberal party campaign launch – we’ll bring you his comments once he begins speaking later on.
Dutton marks anniversary of Bondi Westfield stabbing attack
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has issued a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the Bondi Westfield stabbing attack. He wrote:
One year on from the Bondi Junction attack, we pause to remember a day that shook our nation – and the lives forever changed by one man’s evil. We remember six innocent people who were taken from us. We honour the survivors whose courage and recovery continue to inspire us. And we give thanks for the everyday Australians who did extraordinary things in the face of terror.
Dutton said that one year ago, Australians “witnessed the very worst of humanity – but also the very best.”
We saw compassion. We saw courage. We saw the triumph of the human spirit. We thank the paramedics, hospital staff, police and emergency services whose bravery and professionalism saved lives.
We again acknowledge the heroism of NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott, who acted with remarkable poise to prevent further loss of life. For the families, friends and colleagues of the victims, the grief endures. But you do not carry it alone. Today, as a nation, we remember. We mourn. And we stand together – in sorrow, in strength, and in solidarity.
‘You have my vote’: Young Nationals account forgets to log out before leaving congratulatory comment on its post
Did someone say, well done, Angus? It looks like someone with the Young Nationals has forgotten to log out of their account before leaving themselves a congratulatory comment.
The Young Nationals shared a post on Facebook yesterday about going door knocking with the party’s leader, David Littleproud, and local candidate Sam Farraway in Calare.
The top comment, posted by none other than the Young Nationals themselves, reads:
Thank you Young Nationals, I’m new to the area and you have my vote.
Fantastic. Great move. Well done, Young Nationals.
Reactions flow to Labor’s housing announcement
Reactions to Labor’s $10bn plan to help build 100,000 new homes for first home buyers have been flowing in this morning.
The Community Housing Industry Association welcomed the move, saying it would unlock additional social and affordable rental housing supply. Its CEO, Wendy Hayhurst, said:
We are particularly encouraged by the government’s explicit commitment that these first home buyer developments will unlock additional housing supply, including much-needed social and affordable rental homes. This is a critical aspect of the policy that will help address housing needs across the spectrum.
Master Builders Australia also welcomed Labor’s plan, with its CEO, Denita Wawn, saying:
Our industry is ready to deliver these homes, but rising costs, complex regulation, and a growing skills gap risk dragging down value for money … Supporting first home buyers is only meaningful if we’re also making it easier to build the homes they want to live in.
Wawn said a “key missing piece” of Labor’s plan was more skilled people.
We need a coordinated workforce plan that includes investment in training, incentives for small business employers, and a dedicated construction pathway for skilled migrants.
Labor and Coalition make duelling pitches to first home buyers
We’ve heard housing announcements from both major parties today aimed at first home buyers. Here is a recap of what each is offering:
Labor has announced a $10bn plan to help build 100,000 new homes nationwide for first home buyers.
Under the plan, Labor would open the program to all first home buyers, allowing them to secure a home with only a 5% deposit, with the government guaranteeing part. It will also announce moves to help buyers avoid pricey mortgage insurance.
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, said the sods on the developments would begin turning in the 2026-27 financial year and homeowners would start moving in the year after. She also said the homes “in all likelihood” would be income tested.
Meanwhile, the Coalition would allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes, the ABC reported. The policy would mean a family with an average income would be about $11,000 a year better off – or $55,000 over five years.
We’ll bring you more details on the Coalition’s plan as we learn more.
Ryan asked what she would do in event of hung parliament
Taking a final question, Monique Ryan was asked what she would do if the election resulted in a hung parliament.
She said it was difficult to say because “we are seeing even today the major parties are bringing out policies on the fly”.
We’re less than three weeks from the election and the opposition has launched its first significant housing policy.
What I would do in the event of being re-elected and neither major party are able to form government, would be to … sit down and try to determine which of them were best placed to provide the mature well thought out policy that the people of Kooyong told me they want.
Monique Ryan says she ‘doesn’t have an opinion’ on politicians paying social media influencers
Monique Ryan was asked about her fellow independent Allegra Spender, who said she had paid an agency for influencers to create social media content.
Ryan said she wasn’t doing this herself and had a media adviser to make social media content.
The reality is young [people] don’t watch Insiders or read the papers. They get their news off social media. I have the youngest electorate in Victoria; it is important I engage well with the young people …
I would argue that some of the rightwing press in this country should come with a verification from the Liberal party because I do think that much of what is put in the press and the rightwing press, in particular, has been fed to it by my political opponents.
Asked if she had a problem with politicians paying for content in this way, Ryan initially said:
We pay to generate the content we put to the voters. Not sure there’s an issue there.
She then said, “I don’t have an opinion on it.” And pressed on the issue again, Ryan said:
I have to give it thought. It’s not something I have given great thought. I haven’t engaged in anything in it … I think media diversity and the way that our media works in this country is something that would certainly merit greater examination and something we can talk about.
Ryan weighs up both major parties’ housing announcements
Monique Ryan has been asked to weigh in on both of the major parties’ latest housing announcements – first is Labor’s $10bn plan to help build 100,000 homes for first home buyers.
She said policies that advance help for young Australians were “welcome”.
I think the most important part of the policy platform that Labor rolled out is 100,000 new homes. It seems supply is a major problem in the market and it’s been the sticking point for making houses affordable.
And what does she make of Peter Dutton’s plan to allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes?
Ryan said this was “interesting”, but the problem was it “doesn’t address supply to any significant extent”.
We don’t have any detail, nor any detail from the opposition about the cost.
Does Ryan want to see the negative gearing rules changed?
Monique Ryan said: “We need to look at all the rules around tax, at a federal and state level, to see if they are fit for purpose.”
One thing I have heard every day for four weeks is Victorians’ frustration with land tax, with the capricious land tax that the Victorian state government has levied in the last few years. The way that feeds to the federal system is unpleasant for many people. We need the federal and state governments to be working together on these issues, not at odds with each other.
Ryan labels Coalition tax cut measure ‘a one-off sugar hit’
As we reported earlier, the Coalition has announced a $10bn tax cut measure, giving Australians earning up to $144,000 up to $1,200 in tax relief in the upcoming financial year.
Monique Ryan labelled the plan as a “one-off sugar hit which, let’s face it, is the desperate act of someone whose electoral campaign is tanking, and who is looking for some cheap votes”.
I don’t think it would be in the best interests of the country to give everyone a one-off sugar hit tax cut at this point in time. We know that that would be inflationary.
Monique Ryan on the US-Australia relationship, Trump and Aukus
The independent MP for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, is also on Insiders this morning – and first up, she is asked about Aukus and Donald Trump.
She was shown an excerpt from the Greens’ leader, Adam Bandt’s, speech at the National Press Club during the week, in which he expressed concern over the “big loser energy that is coming out of the White House” and said Australia was “joined at the hip” with Trump.
Ryan labelled the specific comments as “undergraduate populism that doesn’t sit well with electorates like Kooyong”, but said more broadly, people in her electorate were concerned about “potential issues with Aukus” and the defence alliance with the US.
Ryan said the US “might not always be a country which works to act in our best interests, both in trade and on defence”. She said:
I think it is time for us to think about diversifying our interests as a country, to build our resilience …
What we’ve seen is you couldn’t put an envelope between [the major parties] in their rush to be non-partisan on Aukus and the like, but many people in electorates like Kooyong are concerned that we will never see the Virginia submarines and that we are wasting potentially $400bn or more on a partnership which won’t pay off in the way that we need it to down the track.
