Ahead of the federal election on May 21, the Mercury is asking candidates in the of the federal election on May 21, the Mercury is asking candidates in the Cunningham electorate questions on the issues that readers have identified as the most important to them.
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One of these issues is housing affordability.
The question the Mercury put to the candidates were:
- Is the dream of someone owning their own home no longer realistic and why?
- How hard is it for younger people to get into the housing market?
- Should negative gearing be removed to reduce the appeal of investors buying up properties?
You can read the candidates' responses below.
The Australian dream is a cornerstone is being able to own a piece of this great land in the form of a home.
Australian home ownership is one of the highest in the world. The Liberal and Labor government has racked up $1.4 trillion dollars in debt. This will massively increase inflation which will cause interest rates to rise. If the interest rate rises by 3 per cent, then 60 per cent of people will default on their home loans.
If interest rates rise to 6%, then 80% of mortgage holders will default on their home loans. To combat this the UAP will cap home loan interest rates at 3 per cent for five years. The way this will be done is through the constitutional powers granted to the Treasurer to set interest rates.
This is actually how interest rates used to be determined in this country.Tax breaks will also help with Housing affordability.
As an immediate measure the UAP will reduce the tax rate on a persons second job. This will result in higher income over the average weekly earnings by 50 per cent.
This will give a greater income to workers to put towards home ownership and get ahead.To further reduce taxes for home owners the UAP will make the first $30,000 per year paid towards a home loan tax deductible.
This will allow more income to be retained by individuals and families which can be put towards the ownership of a home."
The Illawarra has one of the tightest housing markets in Australia.
There is no silver bullet to fix this problem but Labor's plans will help more people realise their dream of a home.
While in the Illawarra, Labor Leader Anthony Albanese announced Labor's Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme which will save first home buyers up to $32,000 in mortgage insurance, with the government guaranteeing up to 15 per cent of the purchase price.
This is expected to help 10,000 first home buyers a year in regional Australia.
This will be supplemented with Labor's Help to Buy scheme which will help people buy a home sooner by cutting the cost of a buying a home by up to 40 per cent.
Help to Buy will be open to 10,000 Australians each year who will need a minimum deposit of 2 per cent with an equity contribution from the Federal Government of up to 40 per cent of the purchase of a new home or up to 30 per cent of the purchase price of an existing home.
Labor will create a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund to create jobs and build homes. Over its first five years it will:
- Build 20,000 new social housing properties, including 4,000 homes for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes at risk of homelessness,
- Build 10,000 affordable homes for frontline workers
- Support 21,500 full-time jobs, including apprentices
- Provide $200 million for the repair, maintenance and improvements of housing in remote Indigenous communities, and
- Invest $30 million to build housing and fund specialist services for veterans experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness.
Labor will also establish a National Housing Supply and Affordability Council so that the Federal Government continues to play a role in increasing housing supply and improving affordability. And we will develop a National Housing and Homelessness Plan setting out short, medium and longer term reforms needed to make it easier to buy a home, easier to rent, and put a roof over the heads of more homeless Australians.
Housing is a basic human right to ensure the physical, mental and social wellbeing of every Australian. There is a chronic affordable housing shortage in the Illawarra. Reports of no affordable rental properties listed on property websites, should be the canary in the coalmine for the Illawarra to face up to this housing crisis faster.
Rents are increasing beyond the normal citizen's ability to pay. No person or family should be choosing between paying for rent or buying food. If Australia wants to be the lucky country, then we'd better stop gambling away our quality of life for cheap hits from the housing bubble. Instead investing in infrastructure and social housing will be entirely easier once the Citizens Party helps launch the new national post bank, which is ready to go. It will enable faster localised investment capital, subsidised housing options and more realistic financing of modest, sustainable housing projects the Illawarra. In conjunction with local Councils, land can be identified and planning processes fast-tracked to launch housing programs sooner rather than later.
Creative community housing models are evident around the world, including combining students with aged care micro-communities. Why is Australia lagging behind on innovative, sustainable social housing options? Our country's obsessive need for more money, more returns, more profit from property comes at the expense of basic shelter rights. Australia could be leading the way with housing for our diverse society.
It takes a shift in mindset now, to open our polices to a wider range of housing solutions that cover the broad spectrum of needs such as temporary accommodation, fleeing domestic violence, unemployment or under-employment, benefits, aged care accommodation. How long can our Illawarra marginal housing citizens wait between now and being potentially homeless? Let's avert the crisis before it escalates any further.
The Liberal Democrats will address housing affordability in four ways.
Firstly, we are committed to reducing red and green tape. This is a significant factor impacting the number of new houses built, affecting supply and demand.
Secondly, stamp duty. The Liberal Democrats will abolish stamp duty entirely. Independent research shows the economic cost of stamp duty equates to 81c for every $1 raised, making it the most economically damaging tax in Australia per dollar raised.
Thirdly, income tax. The Liberal Democrats tax policy is for a $40,000 tax free threshold, with a flat 20% income tax above this, leaving more money in your pocket compared to Liberal, Labor and the Greens.
Finally, our superannuation policy is to make superannuation voluntary,which would not only increase competition and lower fees in the industry but would also allow potential homeowners access to this 10% of their income to help to invest in a home if they so choose.
It's really hard to find somewhere to live in Wollongong. The median house price is over a million dollars, and the rental vacancy rate is at 0.6 per cent, which means that many people will struggle to secure a lease, even if they can afford it.
I don't own a home, and I will face 20 years of debt if I want to enter the housing market.
A secure home is a necessity for many people in Australia, and the Greens' affordable housing policy will make it easier for everyone to afford a place to rent or purchase.
Our policy will establish a Federal Housing Trust which will build 750,000 new public and community houses. These will end the waiting lists for public housing and help to end homelessness. We will require that new housing developments are 30 per cent public housing and that public housing is distributed through the community to reduce stigma.
We will build 125,000 new shared ownership homes which will allow people to buy a home for $300,000 and begin their life in a high quality sustainable home in an area where they wish to live. If they decide to leave, they can sell their share back to the Federal Housing Trust. This is a small step to helping many young people into the property market. Check out our website for details.
In addition, we will strengthen renters' rights and end no-grounds evictions so that renters can have security in their homes.
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You can see what the candidates thought about:
EDUCATION: here
AGED CARE: here
HEALTH: here
CLIMATE: here
COST OF LIVING: here
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