Q: Your mortgage plan, shadow Minister – I’m go on the Coalition figures I’ve read here. 110,000 households will benefit over four years, the average benefit $111,000. Your document says it will cost $1.25 billion. In one year, it would be $1.21 billion. Is the cost more, or is the $11,000 wrong? Or is it fewer households?

Sukkar:

No, we never said that the 11,000 is the average. The $11,000 is for the typical couple.

Q: Which one is it?

Sukkar:

Let me just answer the question. So for a typical couple who are on average full-time earning, this will save $55,000 over the five years. That is a significant benefit for first home-buyers. It’s going to be, Tom, with respect to costings. It will be a demand driven scheme. This won’t be capped. We’re not going to cap it. We will be delighted if as many Australian as possible are able to avail themselves of the first home-buyer mortgage deductibility

…Well, we’ll announce all of our costings at the right time, Tom. But I can assure you, we want as many young Australians to take up the first home-buyer mortgage deductibility measure, because it is not a capped scheme. And importantly, importantly, Tom, it’s a policy that adds to housing supply. Because one thing that I don’t think that many Australians are aware of is that in Australia, we don’t typically have new homes built unless someone is willing to pre-commitment to that home. Whether it is an first home-buyer willing to buy off the plan or whether it is someone wanting to put a deposit down on a house and land package.

Often it is a young first home-buyer having confidence and having the financibility to purchase. So the reason we want as many Australians as possible to take this up is – yes, we want them to become first home-buyers, but they’re also going to add to the housing stock of this country, and the HIA expects it to be 30,000 a year.

O’Neil:

This is what happens in public poll sip when you do sloppy work that isn’t properly looked at. This is dressed up as a housing policy. How can it be housing policy when it won’t build a single new home or get a single person who is renting today into homeownership who wouldn’t otherwise be there. What the Liberals have cooked up with a generational triple whammy for young people in the country. Peter Dutton not only wants you to pay off your landlord’s mortgage.