Steven Simeoni (Director – Tas City Building):
I’m the director of Tas City Building. This is our subdivision that we created. We started about two years ago and then we had nothing sold and then it was convenient for us to have the homeowners grant come along. It was good for our industry as well because it was a bit slow at the time, obviously Covid impacted us. Prior to Covid, we were 35 strong across the state and now we’re 50 and growing in this short amount of time. It’s also enabled us to build eight houses through the grant program, on this very site. It’s just great to be a part of this thanks to the state and federal governments, midlands council as well, for assisting us through the course of the journey. It’s just great to be a part of giving people their first home at an affordable price. We’ve designed eight houses with three bedrooms, just to hit the right pocket so that people can use their grant money, which is a great feeling too. But it also helps ongoing with things like freeing up rental markets. We were at five apprentices prior to Covid, now we’ve got eight. We’ve got enough work roughly for a year and a half to two years, and the confidence level is fantastic in our construction area and all our guys are all confident and it’s great to be a part of it and thanks to our great governments, it’s just great to be in the industry at the moment.
Brittany Goss (first homebuyer):
My name is Brittany Goss and I’m 21 years old and I’ve just purchased a lot here in Youl Road, Perth. I’ve been living in town now for about three years with my partner. It was a one-bedroom unit, really small, but it was all we could afford at the time. While we were living there, we were obviously saving lots of money because our dream was to get a home but we never quite got there. Thankfully last year, this grant came out and it just put us over the line in finally giving us our dream home. With all the saving over the years, it was good to finally have something and I’m super grateful to the state and federal governments because without you guys, this obviously wouldn’t be a thing. I’m really appreciative and we are so grateful.
Minister Sukkar:
Well good morning. It’s wonderful to be here in Perth in the Lyons electorate and in the great state of Tasmania to meet Steve from Tas City Building and Brittany, who are a prime example of how important the HomeBuilder program has been, not just here in Tasmania but throughout Australia. This time last year when the pandemic first hit, the Government and the industry were very concerned about the hundreds of thousands of jobs in the residential construction industry. As a result of the pandemic, new home sales virtually ground to halt. If you’re not selling new homes, you’re not building them and that endangered those hundreds of thousands of jobs. So, we put in place the HomeBuilder program to support buyers just like Brittany and her partner, to make that decision to purchase a new home and I think that it’s fair to say that the HomeBuilder program has exceeded all of our expectations. We’ve now nearly seen 90,000 applications to the HomeBuilder program, 90,000 projects around our country. It has ignited the residential construction industry in every major city, in every regional centre and every small town throughout Australia. Here in Tasmania, I’m told by the Tasmanian HIA that this will be the first year where there are more than 3,000 new homes built, the first year ever this calendar year that we’ll get above 3,000 new homes here in Tasmania. And that’s why it’s not surprising to here from Steve that the HomeBuilder program has taken his business from 25 employees to 40, from 5 apprentices to 8 apprentices. Hearing Steve talk about taking on those three additional apprentices is what we’re hearing from builders all around the country. Those three apprentices who get that opportunity, that’ll change their life.
The HomeBuilder program has also been so crucially important to the broader economic recovery. We’ve seen now, with the latest national account data, 3.1 per cent GDP growth for the last quarter. It’s the first time in a very long time that we’ve seen two quarters of consecutive growth above 3 per cent. We’ve seen now 95 per cent of jobs lost or people who went to zero hours, having returned to work. The economic recovery is on. The industry – the construction industry in particular – is leading that recovery and we’re so pleased to be able to get out to sites like this, meet the builders, meet the employees who are in a job because of the HomeBuilder program, and of course to meet the first homebuyers and many other buyers like Brittany and her partner who will now get an opportunity to live in their own home.
So it is wonderful again to be here in Perth and in the Lyons electorate and it’s also wonderful to be joined by my great friend, Senator Claire Chandler who is an absolute champion for Tasmania. She’s been someone who is championing the cause of Tasmania throughout the pandemic and particularly with the HomeBuilder program, in ensuring that we worked closely with the state government. Again, I commend the Tasmanian State Government for backing in HomeBuilder and putting in their own first homebuyers’ grant – the $20,000 grant. As Brittany said, when you combined that with the HomeBuilder grant, it made a huge difference to her. The Tasmanian State Government has also delivered the HomeBuilder program through their revenue office. We work really co-operatively with the Tasmanian State Government who have done a phenomenal job and it’s because of people like Senator Chandler that we’ve been able to deliver for people like Steve, his employees, and of course for first homebuyers like Brittany so I’d love to ask Senator Chandler to say a few words.
Senator Chandler:
Thank you very much for those kind words, Minister. It is an absolute pleasure to be here today in Perth, in the electorate of Lyons, with Minister Michael Sukkar and of course Steve from Tas City Building and a first homeowner or a first home builder I should say, in Brittany.
We all know that we want more Tasmanians to be able to live and remain in our state rather than having to go to the mainland for opportunities. Ensuring that housing supply is available to young Tasmanians is a really important part of that and that’s why the HomeBuilder program is just so important. It’s so inspirational today to hear from Brittany about how this program has enabled her to build her first home with her partner here in Perth. Indeed, it’s great to see so many young Tasmanians coming to the regions in Tasmania to live – whether it’s here in Perth or whether it’s in the southern end of the electorate here in Lyons.
The HomeBuilder program has been a really important part of our Covid-19 recovery and giving opportunities to those young Tasmanians to be able to stay here. There’s been some fantastic data recently coming out of the Real Estate Institute of Australia which says that first home ownership in Tasmania is up more than 50 per cent this year and that is more good news for those young Tasmanians that want to be able to stay on our island and enjoy our fantastic way of life down here. So, thank you so much Minister Sukkar for providing us with this great policy, it’s a pleasure to have you down here in Tasmania today and it’s a pleasure to be here in the beautiful, sunny town of Perth. Thanks very much.
Minister Sukkar:
Happy to take questions.
Journalist:
How many people in Tassie have got these grants?
Minister Sukkar:
So we’ve had 2,636 applications to date and they will be increasing between now and the end of March when the program closes. It’s fair to say that when we look at our original estimates, Tasmania is probably running three times greater than we thought which I think is testament to why people like Steve and his business is so busy.
Journalist:
When you say that Tassie is running better than you thought, how are you make sure that regional places like Tassie have the right resources in terms of issuing tittles and permits so that the jobs can get done on time and we can get those slabs in in six months?
Minister Sukkar:
Look, it’s a really good point. I think that we’re now at the point that…when we put together HomeBuilder, we were hoping to keep the industry afloat. We were hoping that hundreds of thousands of jobs in the residential construction industry would be protected. I suppose never in our dreams did we think it would be this big and this busy. That does create some good problems, absolutely it does. I think hearing from Steve here today, he’s commended the Midland City Council for the way that they have facilitated approvals to make sure that he’s able to keep up with all of the timelines that are required by the HomeBuilder program. So it’s been a team effort and that’s why I commend the State Government here in Tasmania, they’ve worked really closely with us. They backed the scheme in firstly by putting their own program in place. They – through the revenue office – have ensured that resources are there to get those 2,636 applications in the system and going. And then we’ve had local councils around Tasmania, come to the party and make sure that they facilitate these sorts of projects quickly too. So it’s a team effort but I think that the industry is copping really well to date and we’ll just keep a close eye on it.
Journalist:
If people are struggling to get their footings in the ground within six months, would you consider extending that timeframe?
Minister Sukkar:
Well look, we’re keeping a very close eye on it. I think that it’s fair to say that right now whilst builders are very, very busy and that’s why people like Steve are employing more apprentices and more staff, that those timeframes are sufficient but we’ll always keep a close eye on it.
Journalist:
How is the Federal Government’s legislative agenda going to be affected by Christian Porter’s absence?
Minister Sukkar:
I don’t think that the legislative agenda will be impacted. The Attorney-General – as he made public the other day – is taking a very, very short period of time of leave. When we look at particularly industrial relations legislation that he’s taking through, we committed to that and the timeframes that the Government has set for ourselves have not changed.
Journalist:
Is there any chance of getting that industrial relations bill through in that next sitting week?
Minister Sukkar:
Well, I’m not a Senate whisperer. We are dedicated to these reforms. Why are we dedicated to them? Because just like we’re seeing here in Perth in the Lyons electorate, we’re seeing an economic recovery that requires businesses to be able to employ new staff, to be able to meet those opportunities and that’s what these industrial relations changes do. So we are dedicated to making it happen because it’s one part of the whole suite of reforms that we will put in place to make sure that Australia maintains itself at the top of the ladder. If you look at covid response globally, both from a health perspective and an economic perspective, we are at the top of the leader board and we want to stay there in coming years.
Journalist:
What chance do you have of getting that industrial relations bill through the Senate if crossbenches are demanding an independent inquiry into the allegations made against Mr Porter?
Minister Sukkar:
Well, I wouldn’t draw a connection between the two and again, I’m not the Minister taking the legislation through. I think that what we can do is faithfully put forward the arguments as to why these things are important for the economy. If you look at the Government’s economic response, it’s not an accident that Australia has some of the fastest economic growth of OECD nations. It’s not some God-given right that we have got, it’s because of the policy settings that we have put in place and we just need to keep making the arguments as to why they’re important. Why they mean more jobs, why they mean more economic growth and I think that in the end, if the arguments are good enough, you get the legislation through.
Journalist:
Why not setup an independent inquiry into the allegations against Mr Porter?
Minister Sukkar:
I’m not going to add to that. I think that the Attorney-General made a very heart-felt statement and the Prime Minister has commented on these things and I’m just not going to add to it.
Journalist:
Do you think that there needs to be an independent inquiry?
Minister Sukkar:
I’m not going to add to it, suffice to say that I agree with the Prime Minister’s statements and I think that it’s very important that we all, collectively –including in the media – respect the rule of law and respect the presumption of innocence. That’s what we all must do. We all have an obligation to do that, and I think the statements from the Attorney-General and the Prime Minister to date are consistent with that, and I agree with them.
Journalist:
What impact will his absence have on the Government more broadly?
Minister Sukkar:
Again, I’m here to speak about HomeBuilder today but I’d say that it is, from what I understand, a very short period of leave, very, very short. We all self-evidently know that there’s been a lot of discussion about the issue but I think that one of the hallmarks of our Government, if I may say, is a relentless focus on the Australian people. We all know in 2021, particularly those of you in the media know that there are always significant hot-button issues from time to time, important, absolutely important issues, but we can never be distracted from our core task as a Government. To provide the economic leadership, the security leadership that Australians need. So we’ve got a relentless focus on that and I can assure you that as a Minister in the Morrison Government, we are focussed on people like Steve and his employees, people like Brittany and her partner, who are making a significant, life-changing decision to buy a home here in Perth and that will remain our focus because I think that’s what Australians expect of us.
Journalist:
Do you think that this is an unwanted distraction at the moment when you’re trying to get that message out about the vaccine rollout?
Minister Sukkar:
Our job as a Government is to keep talking about the things that matter to Australians, no doubt. Whether it’s the vaccine rollout which is going to be crucially important not just from a health perspective but from an economic perspective. Whether it’s – in the leader up to the Budget – talking about the economic settings that we need to continue to fuel growth and we’ll keep focusing on that, no doubt. I think that Australians, if they judge our performance from the pandemic – as I said, it’s not an accident that we’re at the top of the leadership board internationally, and they will expect of us that we keep making the wise decisions to keep us there and that’s why you’ve got to earn your keep in this job every single day.
Journalist:
What about plans for a national integrity commission? Where are they up to?
Minister Sukkar:
The Attorney-General has consulted very widely on the national integrity commission. It’s fair to say that the covid response and the economic response and the health response, has quite rightly taken precedence over the last twelve months but it’s certainly on the agenda to be delivered. I think that it will just be a matter of legislative timelines allowing it.
Journalist:
Public housing is a huge issue in Tasmania. Are you or would you consider the Federal Government taking it out of the state jurisdiction to get some real progress in that area? It’s been a longstanding issue in this state.
Minister Sukkar:
On public and social housing, if there was one state in Australia that we would not take that responsibility over, that is here in Tasmania because the State Government is doing such a phenomenal job. Indeed, I’d say the Tasmanian Government is in many respects, one of the gold-standard governments when it comes to delivering social and public housing. Obviously, we’ve done our bit as a Federal Government to support them – whether it’s the $30 million Hobart City Deal, whether it’s forgiving the historic housing debt of $230 million in principal and interest which will see hundreds of new homes delivered. We feel as though we have provided exceptional amounts of support to Tasmania and the reason that we’ve done that is that we know that we’ve got a competent partner to deliver on those really important needs. So, we’re looking very closely but in a way that I think supports the Tasmanian Government in what we’re trying to achieve which has I think been one of the hallmarks of what they’ve achieved over the last few years.
Journalist:
Would you call nearly 2,000 people on a public housing wait list ‘gold-standard’?
Minister Sukkar:
When you look nationally – and I would encourage you to compare the waitlists around the country – I’m from Victoria as you probably know and the waitlist there on a per capita basis is much bigger. When I say gold-standard, it doesn’t mean that we say that there’s no work to be done here but when you compare Tasmania to other jurisdictions, I think you’d say that there’s been a lot of effort, a lot of focus, and now, with the Commonwealth Government forgiving $230 million of debt, we’ve given the Tasmanian Government the firepower they need to deliver those houses. We’re very confident that they’ll competently be able to do that.
Journalist:
Just finally one more thing just on the vaccine rollout, how’s that message going? Do you think that’s been lost at the moment? Do you think that the public… you know there’s still a lot of people fearful about this vaccine? Is that getting lost a bit with you know, this other saga?
Minister Sukkar:
I don’t think so. If you look that as of Thursday night, there was over 70,000 vaccines delivered. There’ll be a lot more later today, I think that those numbers will be updated reasonably shortly. I think that people have taken a sigh of relief firstly that there is a vaccine that seems to have quite high rates of success when we look at other jurisdictions. I think they now want to see it rolled out, and that is happening. In fact we’re seeing the first AstraZeneca vaccine being delivered today in Murray Bridge in South Australia. They’re watching that closely. I think that as that rollout occurs, the anxieties around it will dissipate. I think that quite naturally, when you know someone – whether it’s a family member or a neighbour or a work colleague – that has had it, I think that that anxiety will slowly dissipate. And I think that most Australians accept the importance of vaccines in general.
Journalist:
Senator Chandler, do you consider federal politics a safe place for women?
Senator Chandler:
Obviously, the reports of incidents in Parliament House over the last few weeks are concerning to Australians and they’re concerning particularly to women. There are a number of inquiries that the parliament has underway now to look at the workplace culture of parliament and what improvements can be made to that and I know that that is being led by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, and I look forward to seeing what results will come out of those inquires.
Journalist:
What are you hoping will be achieved by Kate Jenkins’ review?
Senator Chandler:
Like I say, I think that the review will examine the workplace culture at Parliament House and see what improvements there are to be made. I think that is an important piece of work being led by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner and it will be a cross-party process, I understand, taking views from across the parliament and so I think that will be a robust process that will come up with some sensible recommendations as to how the workplace culture could be improved.
Journalist:
And why did you decide to get into politics initially?
Senator Chandler:
I decided to get into politics because I want more young Tasmanians to have the opportunity to live and have a family on this island. I consider myself very fortunate that I’ve been able to grow up here, have an education here, have a career here. So many people my age haven’t been able to have that. They’ve had to go to the mainland for work opportunities and in many cases, they don’t come back. I put my hand up for politics to fight for more opportunities for young Tasmanians to stay here and as I said earlier, I think that the HomeBuilder grants form a really important part of ensuring that young Tasmanians have the opportunity to stay on our island.
Journalist:
Would you encourage other women to get involved in politics given the events of the past two weeks?
Senator Chandler:
I will always encourage women to get involved in politics. Before I was a Senator, I was significantly involved in the Liberal Party’s review of how we engage with women and I have always been a huge advocate for us to be getting more women into parliament. I have a number of female colleagues federally from Tasmania. Bridget Archer and Wendy Askew who do fantastic work. I also note that the Tasmanian Liberal Government has very close to 50:50 female representation now. These are some fantastic steps that the Tasmanian Liberals in particular have taken. Obviously more work needs to be done and given the reports of the last few weeks, we see that there is a workplace culture issue that needs to be addressed in our nation’s parliament and a really key part of that is ensuring that we have more women in the parliament and serving the people of Australia.
Journalist:
What’s morale like with women in parliament at the moment?
Senator Chandler:
I would say that the morale of women in parliament is the same as all parliamentarians. We’re incredibly focussed on getting Australian through the Covid-19 economic crisis. It is miraculous to be standing here today thinking that one year ago, we were just days away from going into what was effectively a full economic shutdown. I don’t think that anyone could have anticipated twelve months ago that we would be in this situation that we are in today and that is because of the hard work of the Morrison Coalition Government, and locally, the Liberal Government at the state level as well.
Journalist:
Would you like to see public housing move into the federal jurisdiction, or do you think that the Tasmanian Government is capable of solving the longstanding issues that have been around for ages?
Senator Chandler:
I refer you to Minister Sukkar’s comments on that question and I think that the Tasmanian Government is doing a good job at progressing this issue.
Journalist:
Just one more on that review. You mentioned that you’d like there to be improvements. What specific improvements would you like?
Senator Chandler:
Is that relating to the…interrupted.
Journalist:
The Jenkins review, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner?
Senator Chandler:
In parliament, people are working incredibly long hours, they are working incredibly hard and perhaps in that sort of environment, people feel that if there’s a grievance in the workplace, there may not be time to raise it. It’s very much an environment where people are working very hard for the betterment of all Australians and obviously across the parliament, we have different view on what work should look like. But I don’t doubt that we are all working hard to improve the life for all Australians. When you’re working that hard, perhaps there are reasons that you feel that you can’t raise grievances, there may not be the moment to do so. I’m not saying that we should be looking at that review and saying that our parliamentarians shouldn’t be working hard but perhaps some different reporting processes to ensure that there is a process in place so that when workplace grievances occur, they can be raised appropriately.