Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Forty-one homes were lost in my electorate during last summer's bushfires. People have told me that they want to rebuild but it's unlikely they'll be able to sign a contract by the end of the year. How will the Prime Minister ensure that bushfire victims like these ones can access the HomeBuilder scheme?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question, and I commend her for the work that she's done within in her community, as I do all those members who have been in bushfire affected areas for the work they've done in engaging communities and raising issues that need to be addressed. The commitment that we made to the states and territories was to jointly fund the demolition work that was being done across all of those buildings that were damaged and destroyed during the course of the bushfires. The advice I have from the state government in New South Wales is that demolition work will be completed next month but is already progressing through so many parts of the state. That is the project which is managed, as you know, by the state government. They're running the contractors, and they're doing it at a cracking pace. I commend them for doing that and to keep pushing forward.

The HomeBuilder program, as introduced by the Minister for Housing and by the Treasurer, enables grants of $25,000 for those who are eligible under the income test rules to be made to support the construction of new homes. One of the key issues I've been discussing with the state and territory premiers has been how we can escalate and how we can more rapidly ensure that approvals are given, not just for these types of cases but more generally. The purpose of the $25,000 principally was to bring forward projects that were already approved but people weren't going to proceed with, so we could get those projects happening again. People in affected areas are eligible for these grants, subject of course to the income restrictions that are placed on them. I'll be working closely with the states and territories to ensure that they can accelerate the rate of home approvals, not just in these areas but everywhere, because this is critical to job creation. It's absolutely urgent for those who are impacted by the bushfires—certainly, definitely. But it is also critically important for those whose jobs depend on getting these projects started. There is no greater focus this government has ever had than on job creation in the wake of the COVID crisis and, indeed, in the wake of the bushfire crisis—rebuilding communities, rebuilding homes, rebuilding jobs and rebuilding our economy.