Affordable Housing, First-Home Buyers

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:14): My question is to the Premier. Will the government make housing for first-home buyers in South Australia more affordable, regardless of their choice of home? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: South Australia remains one of the only jurisdictions in Australia that doesn't offer stamp duty concessions on established homes for first-home buyers. The Liberal Party has committed to addressing this inequity.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:14): The Leader of the Opposition would well appreciate, I would have thought, the most fundamental tenets of economic policy, which of course are supply and demand. It is true that in South Australia demand within the economy is strong, and it is stronger than it has been for some time. The question is whether or not we can keep pace with respect to supply, and that's what we are focused on. The Leader of the Opposition seems to misunderstand that with respect to housing policy, if you want to make a difference—

Mrs Hurn: How many slabs?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: More than the rest of the country. We are getting on with the task. I don't know if the member for Schubert has been paying attention but we are—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Zero slabs? Okay. Well, the member for Schubert also needs to get in her car.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Yes, I know where you live. Maybe take off—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left will come to order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Maybe rather than just driving along the Northern Expressway into metropolitan Adelaide, maybe you should drive into Riverlea, maybe you should drive into Playford Alive, maybe you should drive into Prospect, maybe you should drive into Bowden. You drive past all of those on the way from the Barossa Valley to Adelaide, and what you will see—

The SPEAKER: Members on my left will come to order! I can't hear the Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —is slab after slab after slab going in the ground because what we care about is supply.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett can leave until the end of question time.

The honourable member for Morphett having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: What the Leader of the Opposition would do well to furnish himself with is an appreciation of how you inform housing supply because unless you are doing something about supply, you are doing nothing at all. By providing tax relief to people in a way that doesn't stimulate supply, you in fact might indeed only end up stimulating demand, which exacerbates the problem. So are you interested in the solution or are you interested in exacerbating the problem? I know where we sit in that equation, and we will continue to deliver the policy reform that makes a difference.

Let me assure the Leader of the Opposition that as we approach the next state election we will ensure that the majority of the South Australian public, if not all the South Australian public, are well aware of your policy to curtail investment in water supply provision because without the water getting to the suburbs, without the water getting to the strategic infill, then there is no new housing supply, which is what preoccupies our mind. There is your policy to continue to bang up more uncontrolled infill in suburbs like Campbelltown, in suburbs scattered throughout your own electorate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and the member for Morialta, the member for Bragg, the member—

The SPEAKER: Premier, can you just be seated. With the exception of the member for Finniss, every member on my left is on their final warning. I can't hear the Premier for all the yelling that's coming from your side. We will hear the Premier in silence.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We see the record of the policy of the Leader of the Opposition, of the member for Bragg, the member for Morialta. They just want to keep cramming uncontrolled infill in the eastern suburbs to residents—

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order: standing order 98—debate.

The SPEAKER: Well, the final bit of the question from the leader had the phrase 'The Liberal Party has vowed to address this matter', so I think the Premier is well within his rights to discuss, compare and contrast what the views are of the government and what the views are of the opposition.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir. The Premier's statement that you are reflecting on that I called the point of order on was directed at three members of the opposition claiming to know their intentions. It wasn't framing it in terms of policy, it wasn't framing it in terms of—

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta will resume his seat. I have given my ruling and I stand by it.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The Liberal Party policy is to cut off the water supply to the outer suburbs of metropolitan Adelaide, which unlocks new supply, and the corollary of that policy is to jam in yet more infill in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Let me assure you that we will continue to prosecute the case—

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order: the Premier, in making his claim is not responsible for the Liberal Party policy. He is not saying it correctly—it is debate.

The SPEAKER: The leader asked him a question and at the end of that question he said what the Liberal Party was going to do. The member for Morialta will stop getting up and making—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Which I have already ruled on and said that I don't uphold the point of order. The Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The member for Morialta had the opportunity to inform the Liberal Party policy that is taken to the next election. He chose to do otherwise. That is his prerogative. We are getting on with policy that means more supply.