Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Reducing Pressure on Housing Affordability Measures No. 1) Bill 2017. Housing is much more than just having a roof over one's head. It is a basic and essential right that every Australian should have access to. There are three basic essentials for human existence: food, water, and shelter. It is very, very basic. Access to shelter, or lack thereof, is a stressor that often leads to unemployment, substance abuse and mental ill health. I would have thought those opposite would consider that these are very important issues. I think we are all of a like mind in recognising that these are important issues, but this government is seeking to do something about them.

I recently had the very great privilege of representing the government on a mental health tour to Europe over the last couple of weeks. I went to England, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada with a member of the opposition—a member of the other place—and also a Greens senator. We looked at mental health and best practice for research and clinical treatment of those suffering from mental health problems. One of the most common issues that arose in relation to mental health was a lack of affordable housing.

There are thousands of people living homeless in Australia. I can say, with a degree of unfortunate comfort, that there are many, many times that number of people who are living rough and sleeping rough around the world. I recently had an opportunity to take part in the Vinnies corporate sleep out, and I'm sure a number of my colleagues here did as well. I joined the member for Fairfax and the member for Wide Bay and we slept rough for just one night. Admittedly it was only one night, but, from the perspective of my back, it was one night too many! I was asked by many people why I did it and what I learnt from it, and the answer was very simple. For me, it is: don't become homeless. That's very easy for me to say, of course. There are many people around our country who are sleeping rough and living on the streets. Being homeless isn't just about sleeping on the street on a piece of cardboard. There are thousands of people in Australia who couch surf. There are thousands of people in Australia who sleep in cars. This government is committed to doing what it can to ensure that we look after our most disadvantaged.

This issue recently hit home in my own Catholic parish of Stella Maris only a few weeks ago when one of our local homeless people found one of his homeless friends dead in our parish church grounds. We all asked: 'How could this happen on the Sunshine Coast? How could this happen in our very own parish church grounds?' Brett was a 31-year-old dad whose life had taken a turn for the worse. It is a tragic story that is repeated all too often right around this country.

I recently had the privilege of inviting the Assistant Treasurer, Michael Sukkar, to my electorate on 13 April. We held a housing summit. I want to acknowledge the participants of that group. We had: Paul Bidwell, who is the Deputy CEO of Master Builders Queensland; Deb Blakeney, who is the CEO of Lions inPlace; Kelli Dendle from CHASM; Andrew Elvin, who is the CEO of the Coast2Bay Housing Group; Llew Gartrell, who is from Stockland; Helen Glanville from Coast2Bay; Wendy Gleeson from Sunshine Coast Council as the senior social policy adviser there; Shane Goodwin, the Managing Director of HIA; Tony Long, who heads up an affordable housing company; John McNamara, who is a finance broker; Joy Morwood, who is the manager of Sunshine 60 & Better; Shane O'Brien from Vantage Homes; Ben Simpson from Stockland; and Warwick Temby from HIA. So they were people from all walks of life involved in the housing industry in one way, shape or form, whether as a builder or as a community housing group. We met with the Assistant Treasurer and we thrashed it out. Bear in mind this was back in April, prior to the budget. We thrashed it out. We had a session on what the government could do to try to alleviate housing pressures.

One of the many things that came out of those discussions was that one particular group that gets forgotten about when we talk about the homeless and disadvantaged are women who have often gone through a divorce and are in their 60s, often having stopped work. This particular category or age group of people find it very hard to re-enter the workplace. Often after a divorce they're left with nothing and they cannot even afford to rent a home on the Sunshine Coast. This really struck home to me as a result of this housing summit that we held with Michael Sukkar. I want to thank in particular Joy Morwood from Sunshine 60 & Better for opening my eyes to this particular problem with this demographic.

I will turn now to the bill. I know I made a long segue there, but it was very important that I gave it that context. This bill is unlikely to stop homelessness, but what it will do is help Australians, among other things, to purchase their first home. It will enable retirees over 65 to downsize their home and take advantage of the sale of their home, and I will come to that shortly. It will enable the better targeting of deductions relating to residential and investment properties, and it will boost the availability of rental accommodation on the market through a foreign resident vacancy tax.

The first aspect of this bill I would like to address is the First Home Super Saver Scheme. Many of us have kids who are in the age group that is having trouble saving a deposit to buy a home. Three of my four daughters are in this age group, and I really wonder whether they will ever own their own home. Under schedule 1 of this bill, the government will help Australians boost their deposit savings for their first home by allowing them to save for a deposit inside superannuation through the First Home Super Saver Scheme. From 1 July 2017, individuals can make contributions of up to $30,000, with up to $15,000 per year, to their super account. Despite what some members opposite have said, this is in relation to voluntary contributions. It is not in relation to the 9½ per cent that their employers put in their account. The First Home Super Saver Scheme enables people to put additional money, up to $30,000 over two years, into their super. This is not an attack on superannuation. This is a mechanism that enables people to put additional money into their superannuation account, which they can then take out. These voluntary contributions, along with deemed earnings, can be withdrawn for a deposit, with withdrawals taxed at the individual's marginal rates less a 30 per cent offset. Under the First Home Super Saver Scheme, most people will be able to supercharge their deposit saving by around 30 per cent, compared with saving through a standard deposit account—and that's very important.

The second issue I want to address is that of reducing barriers to downsizing. Under this bill, older Australians will be incentivised. When the time is right, people aged over 65 will be able to sell the family home that they have held for more than 10 years and make a non-concessional contribution of up to $300,000 into their super funds. If the property is owned by a couple, each of them can take advantage of this, which equates to $600,000. Far from being an attack on superannuation, this is a vehicle where older Australian couples can put $600,000 into their super accounts. Imagine the impact putting $600,000 into people's superannuation account will have. That will quite possibly set them up for the rest of their lives. This measure will help free up housing stock for younger families. I'm not an economist, but, applying the simple rule of supply and demand, more stock, more supply, equals downward pressure on pricing. It seems to me to be a fairly simple concept.

The third issue I want to raise is that of the vacant property tax. Under this bill, the government will implement an annual vacancy charge on foreign owners of residential real estate where a property is not occupied or available for rent for at least six months of the year. We've all heard stories—each of us in this chamber has heard stories—of international buyers buying up, usually off the plan, units and townhouses and then land-banking them, for want of a better term. They don't put anybody in them; they just land-bank them. Now, that has a drastic impact on the price of housing. It forces housing prices up. Worse still, it makes it more and more difficult for our most disadvantaged Australians to be able to rent units—which is what they usually are, but they could be any type of residential real estate. Now, that's a crying shame. It's criminal that we have got international buyers buying Australian real estate and then locking out Australians, some of whom are our most disadvantaged, from even having the capacity to rent those properties. This vacant property tax will be a disincentive for these international investors to do that. Once again, this will make more homes available for rent. It is supply and demand: the more houses that are available for rent, the greater the pressure on rents, and that can only be a good thing.

The last issue I want to touch on in relation to this bill are the travel expense deduction and plant equipment deductions. From 1 July 2017, the government will no longer allow tax-deductible claims for travel expenses, and it will limit plant and equipment depreciation deductions to new assets only. We've all seen the situation where people have claimed interstate trips, even overseas trips, to inspect their properties, and that's very unfortunate. This law will ensure that property investors can no longer take advantage of those provisions. This will strengthen the integrity of our tax system, and I would have thought that those opposite would have supported it. I support this bill and I commend it to the House.

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