Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, the government will support them with an equity stake of up to 40 per cent for new homes and 30 per cent for existing homes. Help to Buy will be real support that will help lifelong renters become homeowners, including renters like Sandra from Melbourne. Sandra told me that she and her husband have 'never been able to save enough deposit to buy a home of our own and have always lived in rental accommodation'. She continued, 'We would do anything to have a secure home in which to live.'

When we talk about the Help to Buy Bill, we're talking about it being life changing for people like Sandra. It's highly targeted to help people without driving up property prices. It has the backing of experts, like the Grattan Institute, who has said that the proposed Help to Buy scheme 'would help level the playing field for first home buyers', and then, of course, the Australian Council of Social Service, who also supports Help to Buy and has said that it will:

… help balance the scales for some between those who have access to 'the bank of mum and dad' for their deposit and those who do not …

Then the Master Builders, who also back the Help to Buy scheme and our broad housing agenda, described it as 'sensible housing policies that benefit both aspiring homeowners and encourage more housing supply'.

But apparently those opposite and their new friends in the Greens think that they know better than some of the experts, because the Liberals and the Greens are standing in the way—

Honourable members interjecting—

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