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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-22 Daily Xml
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HomeBuilder Program

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:35): Will the Treasurer stand up for Marianne, her husband, Jim, and 15 other—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton, there is a point of order, which I will hear from the member for West Torrens.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 97 does not allow argument in a question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! That may be, member for West Torrens. It may be that the question, when finally formed, involves opinion and/or argument, but I will need to hear more.

Mr COWDREY: This is literally the same language that was used by those opposite.

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton, what is your question?

Mr COWDREY: Will the Treasurer stand up for Marianne, her husband, Jim, and 15 other future residents of Norwood Green and write to the federal Treasurer to request an extension to HomeBuilder? With your leave and that of the house, I will explain, sir.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: Marianne Forrest is currently renting in the city with her husband, Jim. Marianne signed a contract in 2020 to purchase an apartment at Norwood Green with the help of the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant, but their apartment is unlikely to be completed by the deadline of 30 April this year due to construction workforce shortages and material shortages, so they, along with 15 others, are worried about what they might be forced to lose in terms of their savings or to take out of their retirement savings to pay the difference.

The SPEAKER: Before the Treasurer answers, it seems to me that there is the sliver of an argument in the question, but it could easily be cured. To suggest that the Treasurer is not standing up really invites a consideration of the purported facts that were introduced then by leave. When taken together, the inference, of course, or argument is that the Treasurer is not doing something. Expressed more plainly, I am sure the question can serve the same purpose, or a separate question can serve the same purpose.

Mr COWDREY: Will the Treasurer provide assistance to Marianne and her husband, Jim, and 15 others at Norwood Green?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:38): Those people who the member for Colton makes reference to have my sympathy. I feel very sorry for them that they have been placed in this situation by the tenets of the scheme that were set and agreed to between the former Coalition government—

Mr Cowdrey: And changed once and can be changed again.

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Colton!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —and the previous state Liberal government. As I was saying before in my answer, there are many thousands of Australians who have missed out on the HomeBuilder grant who feel similarly aggrieved because they have not been able to satisfy the terms of the arrangements that were struck between those two governments, the terms of the national partnership agreement, the details of which are published on the website. They not only have my sympathy but every single South Australian who is struggling to get into the housing market has the sympathy of the Malinauskas Labor government.

That is why we spent the entire last week rolling out a series of announcements designed to get thousands and thousands of South Australians who are currently locked out of the housing market into housing. Whether it's home ownership—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —whether it's into emergency accommodation, whether it's into public housing, whether it's into affordable housing—

Mr Cowdrey: Just federal budget savings, is that all it is?

The SPEAKER: The member for Colton is warned for a final time.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —we are doing what we can with the opportunities that we have to control those areas of government policy that can provide some relief and some access to those people who are locked out of housing here in South Australia. But I regret the circumstances that have befallen the people that the member for Colton raises and others who have missed out on the HomeBuilder scheme since its inception in early 2020. The scheme is not open, the scheme is not able to be changed. All we can do now is to try to provide every possible avenue into housing—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —for those people who are unable to enjoy housing. I haven't visited the Norwood Green development. I understand it is still under construction, from what the member for Colton says. The barrier for the Norwood Green project is not that it is still under construction and won't be completed by the end of April. To be eligible, in this particular instance, for the HomeBuilder grant required construction to commence within 18 months of 31 March 2021, i.e. by 31 December last year—so, as long as construction commenced. What seems to be the barrier in this case is not being able to provide certificates of title and evidence of settlement by the end of April, 30 April, this year. These are not matters that are open and to be changed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hurtle Vale is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —by the state government and by the commonwealth. It would require a significant reopening and changing of the HomeBuilder scheme. I reiterate the point that I have made in the media and publicly: the reason why governments haven't made an exception for the people at Norwood Green is because it would be inequitable for those other South Australians and Australians who have missed out on the HomeBuilder scheme because they haven't been able to adhere to the other criteria of the scheme, whether it's because what they were proposing to do wasn't within the value range, whether it was because construction hadn't started in time—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —whether it was because construction hadn't started in time, whether it was because they weren't Australian citizens, for example. There are many thousands of Australians—

Mr Cowdrey: So it's their fault.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: No, it's not their fault. It's the fault of the scheme—

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will not respond to interjections.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —that was struck by Josh Frydenberg and agreed to by Rob Lucas.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: There are many areas—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Florey!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —of previous government policy that those opposite are now calling on us to fix from the last four years, both nationally and here in South Australia. But those people have my sympathy, and I also regret to inform it is beyond my control to fix this.

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer's time has expired.

Mr COWDREY: My question is again—

The SPEAKER: Order! You do not have the call for the moment. In fact, there are a couple of warnings that must be noted, including the member for Hurtle Vale now on two, the member for Florey on two once again. Shadow treasurer, you have the call.

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