‘Best way to empower Australians is through home ownership’: Dutton

Following the release of the Labor government’s second federal budget in 12 months, shadow leader Peter Dutton has released the Opposition’s response.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday evening (11 May), the Opposition leader outlined that he believed the Albanese government’s budget 2023–24 had failed to deliver on “promised cost-of-living relief”.

In his speech, Mr Dutton echoed the sentiment of several property industry commentators who have suggested the government’s budget may fall short of addressing the ongoing housing crisis.

While the Labor budget for 2023–24 does include measures that address supporting home buying (such as expanding the criteria of the Home Guarantee Schemes), Mr Dutton said that “millions of Australians have every right to be disappointed with this government”.

“Australians will be disappointed with the Albanese government’s second budget which adds to inflation and cost-of-living pressures,” he said, suggesting that a range of measures Treasurer Jim Chalmers put forward could further hit the back pocket of Australians (such as a tax hike for the 10 million Australians who earn under $126,000 a year).

Moreover, Mr Dutton said there was a lack of action from government on tackling housing supply and affordability, which has been exacerbated recently by the return of overseas migrants.

He suggested that the Albanese government’s “Big Australia approach” could therefore make the cost-of-living crisis and inflation worse.

Mr Dutton said: “Amid a housing and rental crisis, our migration numbers will increase massively by 1.5 million people over five years — the highest number in our country’s history and more than the population of Adelaide.

“Without addressing housing supply and infrastructure, where will these people live?

“It’s the biggest migration surge in our country’s history and it’s occurring amidst a housing and rental crisis,” he told members of Parliament.

“Australians are struggling to rent or purchase a property now. The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation estimates that 138,000 homes will be built in Australia in 2024, falling well short of current demand.

“And the government is now proposing to bring in almost 6,000 people per week, which will make a bad situation worse,” Mr Dutton continued.

He said that the Labor government had “broken 12 promises to the Australian people” since coming into power, including one to deliver “cheaper mortgages”.

Mr Dutton condemned the Labor party, stating: “Labor will say anything to get into power. Once in government, they do the opposite.

“Australians around our country are grappling with mounting costs. Your mortgage repayments, gas and electricity bills, supermarket and petrol station receipts, and insurance premiums are the evidence,” Mr Dutton continued — suggesting that the Morrison government had “bequeathed interest rates at historic lows (before it lost power last year)” .

The Opposition Leader said that a Coalition government would instead “sensibly manage migration — as we have done in the past — in conjunction with proper infrastructure planning”.

Super in focus

He also affirmed the policy commitment to allow Australians to use their super to buy their first home, which he said would “particularly support young people and separated women”.

“Because the best way to empower Australians — to make them masters of their fate — is through home ownership,” he said.

Enabling Australians to use their super as they see fit was a core theme of the budget reply.

In his speech, Mr Dutton said: “This government thinks your super is their money,” noting that it is seeking to double the tax on super balances over $3 million from 15 per cent to 30 per cent from 2025.

“This tax is an attack on Australians who have worked hard and saved to support themselves and their families.

“It undermines the fundamentals of our tax system in taxing unrealised capital gains.

“Imagine your small business, your farm, or another asset will support your retirement.

“Under Labor, you will pay tax on those things before you sell them, impacting your cash flow.

“To those who have welcomed this tax, a word of caution: being spared by the Labor tax shark today doesn’t mean you won’t be on its menu tomorrow.

“If Labor can’t keep its promise to leave your super alone, any super tax cap will not be set in stone,” he said.

Mr Dutton said: “People should be rewarded for their hard work by keeping more of what they earn so they don’t become the new working poor.

“The more you keep from what you earn, the less you’re dependent on the state. And the more freedom and choice you have to realise your aspirations. Be it studying, travelling, educating children, starting a business, owning a home, or retiring comfortably.

“Your money is your money — not the government’s.”

He concluded that if he led a Coalition government in a new government, he would work to:

• restore economic responsibility – by “balancing the budget; getting debt, deficit and inflation down; and doing much-needed structural reform”;
• lower taxes;
• bring back smaller government “which stops interfering in your life and telling you how to live it”; and
• pursue “sensible policy”.

[Related: Budget slammed for not addressing the housing crisis]