House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-03-08 Daily Xml

Contents

HomeBuilder Program

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:37): My question is again to the Treasurer. What does the Treasurer say to Michael of Goodwood? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: Michael Thompson is a first-home buyer who signed a contract to purchase an apartment off the plan in December 2020 but wouldn't have taken the risk had it not been for the $25,000 grant. The original planned completion date was December 2021 but due to widespread building and construction delays this was amended to April-May 2023. Michael said, and I quote:

My place is almost finished, and it is meant to be an exciting time, but it is dampened by the stress of not knowing whether I will receive the grant or not…it's only fair that the deadline…is extended…to not disadvantage those of us who bought off the plan.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:38): I thank the member for Colton for his question. I say to Michael that he has my sympathies and I can imagine how frustrating and dampened his experience of building a new home would be.

I reiterate my offer if people are experiencing circumstances where, outside of doing what the member for Colton asks and reopening the scheme and making an exception for people who find themselves in this particular situation, if there are other things that can be looked at, other pressures that can be alleviated, whether it's through home financing—I am not sure what contractual obligations there are on the builder, for example, in that scenario, for having missed that construction deadline—then I reiterate the offer that we are happy to make Department of Treasury and Finance and RevenueSA officers available to speak with Michael and those in similar situations.