JASON CLARE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL SERVICES,
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES
MEMBER FOR BLAXLAND
MERYL SWANSON MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
MEMBER FOR PATERSON
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE
GILLIESTON HEIGHTS
SATURDAY, 26 MARCH 2022
TOPICS: Labor’s Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme.
MERYL SWANSON, MEMBER FOR PATERSON: Good morning. I am absolutely delighted to welcome Jason Clare here to Gillieston Heights in Paterson, part of the broader Hunter. It’s never been harder to buy a home here in the Hunter than it is at the moment. After 10 years of Liberal Governments, young people say, ‘how do we get a start, how do we break into the housing market when you’re paying $500,000 for an unrenovated miner’s cottage in Kurri and $750,000 for the same cottage that’s been renovated?’
You know that it’s been really tough to break into that market, to get your start on the property ladder. We recognise that. We want to reach out and give a helping hand to young people, first home buyers, who just need that little bit of extra help. They’ve saved a little bit, they’re very close but every time they get close to owning that home, the prices blow out that little bit more.
We know about it, we understand it and we want to do something to reach out and help. Jason, I’m so pleased to have you here today. Thank you very much.
JASON CLARE, SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS: It’s great to be here in Gillieston Heights with the awesome Meryl Swanson.You can’t do a press conference without a car driving past yelling out saying how much they love you, Meryl. The people of this community know you and they love you and this is a policy designed for young families here in Gillieston Heights and right across the Hunter to buy a home and to buy it sooner.
If we win the next election, this is the plan that will help more Aussies live here in the Hunter to buy a home in the Hunter and to buy it sooner. Everybody knows that it’s harder to buy a house now than ever before. And it’s harder in the Hunter than almost anywhere else in Australia. In the last year, prices have jumped by 25 per cent right across the country. They have jumped by 30 per cent here in the Hunter and in some parts of the Hunter it’s even more than that. Prices have jumped by 33 per cent in Cessnock, in Newcastle the price of the average home is now more than the price of the average home in Melbourne.
So, people in the Hunter here get it. They know that the cost of the average home is getting higher and higher and higher and it’s getting harder and harder and harder to buy their first home. If we win the next election, we will do something about it. That’s why we’ve announced that if we win the next election, we will establish the Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme. It will help people like the people who live in the Hunter, 10,000 people that live in the regions to buy a home in the regions and to buy it sooner. If you have a five per cent deposit, we will provide a guarantee over the next 15 per cent so that you don’t have to pay that awful mortgage insurance that people may have to pay if they don’t have a 20 per cent deposit. That will save you up to 10, 20 up to $30,000 ithat you would otherwise have to pay.
If you grew up here in the Hunter, if you went to school in the Hunter, got your first job here in the Hunter, found the love of your life here in the Hunter, and you want to buy a home here in the Hunter, and you want to build a life here in the Hunter, this plan is for you. It will help you to buy your first home sooner and to build a life here in the Hunter, the place where your mum and dad grew up, the place where your mum and dad raised you, the place where you want to live the rest of your life. It’s up to the Federal Government to help you do that. Labor will do that if we win the next Federal election. Thanks very much.
JOURNALIST: Jason, what does this policy actually do?
CLARE: What this policy does it make easier for regional Aussies to buy their first home, and to buy it sooner. If you have a five per cent deposit, we’ll provide a guarantee over the next 15 per cent so that you don’t have to pay 20 or $30,000 in mortgage insurance. That will make a big difference for a lot of people that are struggling to save a deposit, to stop renting and to start buying. This will level the playing field when young families are trying to buy a home here. They are not just bidding against someone else here in the Hunter, or bidding against someone from Sydney, they’re bidding knowing that have to write a cheque for up to $30,000 at the end of it to mortgage insurance. If we win the next election, they won’t have to do that, and we will provide more support than ever before for regional Aussies to buy their first home, in the place where they grew up.
JOURNALIST: How much is the program going to cost?
CLARE: The scheme will cost $12 million, that’s the administration cost of the scheme. That’s a small price to pay to help thousands and thousands of Aussies, who live in the regions, to buy a home here in the regions, and to buy it sooner. It will save thousands and thousands of dollars for each and every person who takes advantage of the scheme.
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: ARLEY BLACK (CLARE) 02 9790 2466
