HOUSING CONSTRUCTION GRANT

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:23): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer inform the house about last week's response to the government's new Housing Construction Grant?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Workers Rehabilitation, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:23): I would like to thank the member for Little Para for his question. Since the announcement of the revised housing grants, there has been much interest from the community and industry about the new $8,500 Housing Construction Grant. The grant reforms have received widespread support and been welcomed by the Real Estate Institute of South Australia, the Property Council, Business SA, the Urban Development Institute of Australia and many others. My office and RevenueSA have received a significant number of phone calls from members of the public interested in accessing the grant.

In the last two weeks alone, RevenueSA received 1,644 phone calls about the Housing Construction Grant and the First Home Owner Grant. This reflects a sevenfold increase in the level of general grant inquiries. On 16 October alone there were 377 phone calls related to grants, compared to only 30 grant related phone calls on the equivalent day in the preceding period.

There is absolutely no doubt that the introduction of the Housing Construction Grant has sparked a lot of positive interest from members of the public looking to build a new home, with inquiries as of yesterday still double the normal rate. It is also pleasing to see that last week developers such as Lend Lease followed the government's lead by offering an additional grant of $8,500 to purchasers of selected lots at Blakes Crossing. This means that purchasers of these lots could receive $17,000 in financial assistance plus an extra $15,000 if they are an eligible first home buyer. AVJennings has also introduced a similar arrangement under which purchasers could receive an additional $8,000 grant for selected lots at St Clair, Pathways at Murray Bridge, Eyre at Penfield and River Breeze at Goolwa.

While the property market is soft and the housing construction industry is doing it tough, it is great to see industry working with the government to encourage people to build new homes and get into the property market at this time. The new Housing Construction Grant, along with the first home buyer scheme and off-the-plan stamp duty concession, will provide a much needed boost to the state's housing construction industry and property market. It will provide job security to the 70,000 South Australians currently working in the industry and will help boost the state's economy.

The government is very pleased about the level of public interest in the new Housing Construction Grant and we are very pleased to have received such positive feedback and support from the community and industry in the last few weeks. I encourage anyone looking to build a new home to take up the generous assistance on offer from both the government and developers and visit www.nobettertime.com.au.