Leon Byner:
Let’s talk to Assistant Treasurer, Michael Sukkar. Michael, what’s the latest on this?
Minister Sukkar:
Hi Leon. Well the latest is in response to some of the bushfire affected communities around Australia. We’ve ensured that in each of the application processes that there was an ability to extend the time frames in which work had to commence in order to accommodate those who were going to struggle to meet the three-month deadline. So now in South Australia for example, the South Australian revenue office has the ability to extend the time frame from which work needs to commence to six months to ensure that those people in bushfire affected areas are able, to the greatest extent possible, take advantage of the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant.
Leon Byner:
All right, so that is a decision that if there are concerns, it’s got to be made by the State Government?
Minister Sukkar:
Yes, the flexibility is there for the revenue office to make who are administering the scheme, and obviously, in our discussions, there’d be very few categories that would be more important to exercise that discretion than for bushfire affected communities. But it also extends to circumstances where a local government might be slowing grants in a planning application…interrupted.
Leon Byner:
Yes, I was going to ask you about that because we’re getting a lot of complaints about this.
Minister Sukkar:
Yeah, effectively, if for some reason out of your control, you’re unable to met that three-month deadline and it’s really not your fault, we have said to the revenue offices – and they are going to interpret this very broadly – extend it by another three months to give those people the time, because at the end of the day, this whole program is designed to keep people in work. Whether it’s the tradies on site, the carpenters, the plumbers, the electricians, all the way to the timber mill workers who make the frames and the trusses and the manufacturing workers who make the tiles and the bricks and the glass. So, in my opinion, if through no fault of their own, people are unable to start in that three-month period, we’ll we’re obviously very happy to extend it by another three months.
Leon Byner:
Minister, thank you for making it clear. That’s Michael Sukkar, the Assistant Treasurer. I raised it because I know that there are people who have contracted to do work – and some of them are bushfire victims – and they’ve been worried that they may miss out on grants that have previously been made available. So, the good news is – says Mr Sukkar, the Minister – that you just talk to the State Government, because they’re co-ordinating this and they will make sure that you don’t miss out, which is good news.