HomeBuilder Program

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:51): My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, given the recent announcement in the last 24 hours by the federal government with respect to the HomeBuilder grant scheme, what, if any, assistance does the state government plan to stimulate the building construction industry?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:51): The state government is delighted with the announcement by our federal colleagues in relation to HomeBuilder. What it essentially means, put simply, is that new first-home buyers in South Australia will have a total of $40,000 available for the period through to 31 December—$25,000 from the federal government and the existing $15,000 state government grant. The federal government grant extends beyond just that because it does take into account extensive renovations as well as new home construction.

As the Hon. Mr Hood will know, in last year's budget the state government announced a $45 million housing stimulus package, and I pay credit to my hardworking ministerial colleague, minister Lensink, and then again in the Mid-Year Budget Review under her leadership, together with the Premier, there was an announcement of a 10-year plan for about $550 million in terms of a housing strategy. It included a program for a thousand new housing opportunities and included a homelessness fund.

In the earlier scheme we announced HomeStart starter loans, funded out of an affordable housing fund, and we expanded on that again and extended the period. I think it was in the Mid-Year Budget Review as well. There were significant commitments to maintenance and affordable housing in those packages, as I said, led by my colleague minister Lensink and the Premier. Whilst we welcome what the federal government has done, the state government has worked with the federal government and we will announce in the next week or so a further stimulus package for housing construction in South Australia. It will complement the announcements by the federal government.

As I said, until we were aware of the final detail—and I did see something last night with tracked changes in it, so clearly some of the detail in relation to the renovation schemes were still being worked on until yesterday—until we had seen the final detail of that both last night and this morning, we are now in a position to know the precise detail of that. As I said, in the next week or so we will conclude our decision-making as a cabinet and we will announce in the next week or so a range of initiatives that will further stimulate the housing and construction sector.

What we have made clear today, as I have said consistently for a period of time, is that we will not be adding to homeowner grants, we will not be abolishing stamp duty, as has been called for by some in the industry. What I have said this afternoon is that it is now counterproductive to continue to raise the possibility that the state government, in the public's perception, might move down that particular front. We now have a decision from the federal government, there is a clear decision from the state government, and potential home purchasers now need to make their decisions quickly because this is only a six-month period.

We don't want to see the media reports of earlier this week, where national builders were saying that potential homeowners were delaying their purchases because they wanted to know how much they were going to be given by federal or state governments in relation to both grants or stamp duty concessions. We don't need people who are looking to purchase, and are able to purchase, delaying those decisions because they believe there may well be further grants being considered or being implemented.

People are now quite clear. The federal government is being very generous with their $25,000 grant. There is now $40,000 for new first-home owners in South Australia and a range of other incentives that the federal government has announced. We are now certainly going to support the federal government in implementing that particular scheme.

The federal government, in conclusion—this is their estimate, not ours—believe there will be approximately 2,000 grants issued in South Australia. We hope, of course, it might be more because it is uncapped. The federal government has indicated they are not putting a cap or a limit on the number of grants prior to 31 December, so if the number happens to be higher than that because of the generosity of the combined grants schemes, that will be excellent news for the residential housing sector in South Australia.