Importance Score: 45 / 100 đľ
Labor and Coalition make duelling pitches to first home buyers
Weâve heard housing announcements from both major parties today aimed at first home buyers. Here is a recap of what each is offering:
Labor has announced a $10bn plan to help build 100,000 new homes nationwide for first home buyers.
Under the plan, Labor would open the program to all first home buyers, allowing them to secure a home with only a 5% deposit, with the government guaranteeing part. It will also announce moves to help buyers avoid pricey mortgage insurance.
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The housing minister, Clare OâNeil, said the sods on the developments would begin turning in the 2026-27 financial year and homeowners would start moving in the year after. She also said the homes âin all likelihoodâ would be income tested.
Meanwhile, the Coalition would allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes, the ABC reported. The policy would mean a family with an average income would be about $11,000 a year better off â or $55,000 over five years.
Weâll bring you more details on the Coalitionâs plan as we learn more.
Key events
Dutton marks anniversary of Bondi Westfield stabbing attack
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has issued a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the Bondi Westfield stabbing attack. He wrote:
One year on from the Bondi Junction attack, we pause to remember a day that shook our nation â and the lives forever changed by one manâs evil. We remember six innocent people who were taken from us. We honour the survivors whose courage and recovery continue to inspire us. And we give thanks for the everyday Australians who did extraordinary things in the face of terror.
Dutton said that one year ago, Australians âwitnessed the very worst of humanity â but also the very best.â
We saw compassion. We saw courage. We saw the triumph of the human spirit. We thank the paramedics, hospital staff, police and emergency services whose bravery and professionalism saved lives.
We again acknowledge the heroism of NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott, who acted with remarkable poise to prevent further loss of life. For the families, friends and colleagues of the victims, the grief endures. But you do not carry it alone. Today, as a nation, we remember. We mourn. And we stand together â in sorrow, in strength, and in solidarity.
âYou have my voteâ: Young Nationals account forgets to log out before leaving congratulatory comment on its post
Did someone say, well done, Angus? It looks like someone with the Young Nationals has forgotten to log out of their account before leaving themselves a congratulatory comment.
The Young Nationals shared a post on Facebook yesterday about going door knocking with the partyâs leader, David Littleproud, and local candidate Sam Farraway in Calare.
The top comment, posted by none other than the Young Nationals themselves, reads:
Thank you Young Nationals, Iâm new to the area and you have my vote.
Fantastic. Great move. Well done, Young Nationals.
Reactions flow to Laborâs housing announcement
Reactions to Laborâs $10bn plan to help build 100,000 new homes for first home buyers have been flowing in this morning.
The Community Housing Industry Association welcomed the move, saying it would unlock additional social and affordable rental housing supply. Its CEO, Wendy Hayhurst, said:
We are particularly encouraged by the governmentâs explicit commitment that these first home buyer developments will unlock additional housing supply, including much-needed social and affordable rental homes. This is a critical aspect of the policy that will help address housing needs across the spectrum.
Master Builders Australia also welcomed Laborâs plan, with its CEO, Denita Wawn, saying:
Our industry is ready to deliver these homes, but rising costs, complex regulation, and a growing skills gap risk dragging down value for money ⌠Supporting first home buyers is only meaningful if weâre also making it easier to build the homes they want to live in.
Wawn said a âkey missing pieceâ of Laborâs plan was more skilled people.
We need a coordinated workforce plan that includes investment in training, incentives for small business employers, and a dedicated construction pathway for skilled migrants.
Labor and Coalition make duelling pitches to first home buyers
Weâve heard housing announcements from both major parties today aimed at first home buyers. Here is a recap of what each is offering:
Labor has announced a $10bn plan to help build 100,000 new homes nationwide for first home buyers.
Under the plan, Labor would open the program to all first home buyers, allowing them to secure a home with only a 5% deposit, with the government guaranteeing part. It will also announce moves to help buyers avoid pricey mortgage insurance.
The housing minister, Clare OâNeil, said the sods on the developments would begin turning in the 2026-27 financial year and homeowners would start moving in the year after. She also said the homes âin all likelihoodâ would be income tested.
Meanwhile, the Coalition would allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes, the ABC reported. The policy would mean a family with an average income would be about $11,000 a year better off â or $55,000 over five years.
Weâll bring you more details on the Coalitionâs plan as we learn more.
Ryan asked what she would do in event of hung parliament
Taking a final question, Monique Ryan was asked what she would do if the election resulted in a hung parliament.
She said it was difficult to say because âwe are seeing even today the major parties are bringing out policies on the flyâ.
Weâre less than three weeks from the election and the opposition has launched its first significant housing policy.
What I would do in the event of being re-elected and neither major party are able to form government, would be to ⌠sit down and try to determine which of them were best placed to provide the mature well thought out policy that the people of Kooyong told me they want.
Monique Ryan says she ‘doesn’t have an opinion’ on politicians paying social media influencers
Monique Ryan was asked about her fellow independent Allegra Spender, who said she had paid an agency for influencers to create social media content.
Ryan said she wasnât doing this herself and had a media adviser to make social media content.
The reality is young [people] donât watch Insiders or read the papers. They get their news off social media. I have the youngest electorate in Victoria; it is important I engage well with the young people âŚ
I would argue that some of the rightwing press in this country should come with a verification from the Liberal party because I do think that much of what is put in the press and the rightwing press, in particular, has been fed to it by my political opponents.
Asked if she had a problem with politicians paying for content in this way, Ryan initially said:
We pay to generate the content we put to the voters. Not sure thereâs an issue there.
She then said, âI donât have an opinion on it.â And pressed on the issue again, Ryan said:
I have to give it thought. Itâs not something I have given great thought. I havenât engaged in anything in it ⌠I think media diversity and the way that our media works in this country is something that would certainly merit greater examination and something we can talk about.
Ryan weighs up both major partiesâ housing announcements
Monique Ryan has been asked to weigh in on both of the major partiesâ latest housing announcements â first is Laborâs $10bn plan to help build 100,000 homes for first home buyers.
She said policies that advance help for young Australians were âwelcomeâ.
I think the most important part of the policy platform that Labor rolled out is 100,000 new homes. It seems supply is a major problem in the market and itâs been the sticking point for making houses affordable.
And what does she make of Peter Duttonâs plan to allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct mortgage payments from income taxes?
Ryan said this was âinterestingâ, but the problem was it âdoesnât address supply to any significant extentâ.
We donât have any detail, nor any detail from the opposition about the cost.
Does Ryan want to see the negative gearing rules changed?
Monique Ryan said: âWe need to look at all the rules around tax, at a federal and state level, to see if they are fit for purpose.â
One thing I have heard every day for four weeks is Victoriansâ frustration with land tax, with the capricious land tax that the Victorian state government has levied in the last few years. The way that feeds to the federal system is unpleasant for many people. We need the federal and state governments to be working together on these issues, not at odds with each other.
Ryan labels Coalition tax cut measure âa one-off sugar hitâ
As we reported earlier, the Coalition has announced a $10bn tax cut measure, giving Australians earning up to $144,000 up to $1,200 in tax relief in the upcoming financial year.
Monique Ryan labelled the plan as a âone-off sugar hit which, letâs face it, is the desperate act of someone whose electoral campaign is tanking, and who is looking for some cheap votesâ.
I donât think it would be in the best interests of the country to give everyone a one-off sugar hit tax cut at this point in time. We know that that would be inflationary.
Monique Ryan on the US-Australia relationship, Trump and Aukus
The independent MP for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, is also on Insiders this morning â and first up, she is asked about Aukus and Donald Trump.
She was shown an excerpt from the Greensâ leader, Adam Bandtâs, speech at the National Press Club during the week, in which he expressed concern over the âbig loser energy that is coming out of the White Houseâ and said Australia was âjoined at the hipâ with Trump.
Ryan labelled the specific comments as âundergraduate populism that doesnât sit well with electorates like Kooyongâ, but said more broadly, people in her electorate were concerned about âpotential issues with Aukusâ and the defence alliance with the US.
Ryan said the US âmight not always be a country which works to act in our best interests, both in trade and on defenceâ. She said:
I think it is time for us to think about diversifying our interests as a country, to build our resilience âŚ
What weâve seen is you couldnât put an envelope between [the major parties] in their rush to be non-partisan on Aukus and the like, but many people in electorates like Kooyong are concerned that we will never see the Virginia submarines and that we are wasting potentially $400bn or more on a partnership which wonât pay off in the way that we need it to down the track.