Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

First home buyers around the country will be relieved to learn today that we are bringing forward our commitment to our five per cent deposit scheme. That's all that's required for a deposit for a new home. We're bringing it forward to 1 October so that all first home buyers in our country will now qualify for the scheme and only need a five per cent deposit for their first home opportunity. In my electorate that means that thousands of first home buyers will be able to take that next step to buy their first home. Despite having good incomes and good jobs, they've been priced out. Being able to achieve the 20 per cent, they tell me, could take decades, if not longer.

This is a sensible reform that we've brought forward, lowering the deposit and guaranteeing five per cent. It's much better than what those opposite proposed, which is allowing first home buyers to use their super, a policy that would have hurt people later on in life, hurt generations and not actually helped people into homeownership any sooner. Our proposal of lowering it to five per cent means that more first home buyers will get into homes sooner. It's great for builders in the regions because they can get on with building the houses that we need. It's great for workers moving to the regions because they'll be able to buy their homes, settle down and start to form roots. This is great policy being announced by our government.

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