Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

For those on the other side who are interjecting and obviously show no interest in this very important matter, Alan Jones commented on the Today show on 14 February 2007, ‘It’s made much worse by the behaviour of some state governments. One of the reasons is the extent to which the government and in particular the New South Wales government, uses property as a vehicle to raise tax.’ He went on to say—and this is a number which I think they should be concerned with—that families buying a new home in Sydney pay on average $68,000 in infrastructure charges with every new home. This is the new housing affordability tax by the Iemma government. I would not be being so smart about it on the other side.

We do our best. We provide the first home loans grant. Do you know where that goes? In New South Wales it goes straight into the coffers of the Labor Party. State governments continue to have a love affair with money rather than caring about their constituents. (Time expired)