EDITORIAL: RESTORING THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN DREAM

Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, understood the importance of private home ownership, indeed in his famous forgotten people speeches he remarked: -

‘One of the best instincts in us is that which induces us to have one little piece of earth with a house and a garden which is ours; to which we can withdraw, in which we can be among our friends, into which no stranger may come against our will’.

Menzies was talking about the Great Australian Dream, the desire for every Australian family to own their own home.  He knew the more Australians who owned a slice of our great country the stronger families, communities and indeed our Nation would become.

Increasingly however, because of the actions of the Albanese Labor Government, this dream feels more and more like a nightmare.

Under Labor, interest rates have risen 12 times, building approvals have fallen to their lowest level in over a decade and rents have risen almost as sharply.

At the same time, Labor has massively expanded our nation’s migration program bringing in over one million people in just two years, a population close to the size of Adelaide’s without building an additional hospital or school.

Menzies would be lost for words.

In contrast over the past two years, my Coalition colleagues and I have been listening. We’ve listened to local councils, the building industry and aspiring home-owners across the nation and we’ve discussed new housing supply constraints and practical ways to overcome these challenges.

An elected Coalition Government will invest in much-needed enabling infrastructure to get housing developments moving.

Our Plan will unlock up to 500,000 new homes by investing $5 billion to fund essential infrastructure like water, power, and sewerage at housing development sites.

This will be complimented by a balanced migration program and a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes.

Under our plan, we will allow Australians to access up to $50,000 from their super to buy their first home, and we will extend this policy to separated women – to help them restart their lives.

Our Plan will restore hope in the Great Australian Dream, strengthen families, communities and our Nation.