Mr NATHAN HAGARTY (Leppington) (15:28): I make brief contribution to debate on the Help to Buy (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2025. As we have heard from the many contributors today, this legislation takes a critical step towards delivering housing affordability for thousands of families across New South Wales, including many in my own electorate of Leppington. Let us be clear about how we got here: A decade of Coalition governments at both the State and Federal level left housing unaffordable and out of reach for a generation of first home buyers. They sold off public housing and failed to invest in new supply. They treated housing like a purely speculative asset rather than a human right. While developers and investors profited, working families were pushed further away from their dream of home ownership.
Now Labor governments, both in New South Wales and federally, are stepping up to fix it. The bill enables the Commonwealth's Help to Buy scheme to operate in New South Wales, giving low- and middle-income earners a genuine pathway to home ownership. It will allow eligible participants to co-purchase a property with the Federal Government, in turn cutting deposits, reducing monthly repayments and finally giving families what they have long deserved—a fair go.
Leppington is one of the fastest growing parts of not only the State but probably the country. It is right in the middle of the South West Growth Area and is full of young families, first home buyers and essential workers trying to set down roots and build a future. But despite the boom in housing developments, home ownership remains out of reach for many. Deposits are too high, prices are rising faster than wages, and people who would once have been able to buy their first home in their early thirties or even twenties are now being forced to wait longer or give up altogether and stay in the rental market.
That is why the Help to Buy scheme is so important. Under the scheme, the Government contributes up to 40 per cent for a new home or 30 per cent for an existing home. That means families in Leppington could potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars on their mortgage and thousands every year in repayments. Families already face enough challenges in suburbs like Austral, within my electorate. Many roads there are still unsealed and infrastructure has failed to keep pace with the number of people moving in, thanks to the previous Government and the current council. Finding a house is hard enough; getting into one should not be impossible. This scheme means a couple or family renting or living with relatives finally has a chance to secure something of their own.
The technical purpose of the bill is to refer specific legislative powers to the Commonwealth so that Help to Buy can operate effectively in New South Wales. It adopts the necessary provisions of the Help to Buy Act 2024 and ensures that New South Wales law supports, rather than conflicts with, that important Federal scheme. Crucially, the bill ensures that participation in Help to Buy will not penalise home buyers under existing State laws. It will not affect the buyer's eligibility for the First Home Owner Grant or the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, a couple of policies I remember announcing during the election campaign with the Premier in Edmondson Park—another growing suburb in south-west Sydney. Further, it will not trigger additional stamp duty or land tax when the Commonwealth's equity stake is gradually bought out by the home owner.
In other words, the scheme works in harmony with existing supports in New South Wales. That matters in Leppington. Since July 2023 more than 56,000 stamp duty exemptions or concessions have been issued across New South Wales through our expanded first home buyer programs, saving households around $1.2 billion. Those programs are working in Leppington, and Help to Buy builds on that success. Help to Buy will be capped at 40,000 households nationwide over four years, with an estimated 3,000 per year in New South Wales. That means 3,000 households each year could get a genuine leg-up into the housing market. I expect a significant number of households to take that leg-up and place those roots in growing suburbs like Leppington, Austral and Denham Court.
Some people may argue about the constitutional referral of powers, but that is not novel. New South Wales has referred powers to the Commonwealth before for business names registration, workplace relations and de facto relationships. In each case it enabled stronger, more unified action across our great nation. Housing is no different. The scale of the challenge demands national coordination, and this referral ensures that New South Wales does not miss out while other States like Queensland and Victoria move ahead. Help to Buy is not a silver bullet, but it is a real, practical step that will make a difference for people in Leppington and across New South Wales. It means a young nurse from Middleton Grange, or a couple working in construction and early childhood education in Austral, might finally be able to buy their first home without the crushing weight of a full deposit or an unaffordable mortgage. This collaboration across jurisdictions is what good governance looks like.
On that note, I again congratulate the Federal members in my neck of the woods, Ms Anne Stanley and Dr Mike Freelander. I have not mentioned it this week, but another example of the State and Federal governments working together is the $1 billion for Fifteenth Avenue. That important infrastructure pathway will ensure that people in those growing suburbs and new housing areas can get to the fantastic opportunities at the airport and aerotropolis, whether they be for jobs, education or cheap flights.
Dr Mike Freelander in Macarthur worked very hard to ensure that we also got $1 billion to purchase the corridor for the extension of the Leppington line. Local members in my neck of the woods are working very hard on infrastructure, and State and Federal Ministers are working very hard to ensure that young families get a leg‑up into the housing market and to solve one of the many crises—probably the most important crisis—left behind after a dismal decade of State and Federal Liberal governments. This fantastic bill will help genuine working families and will deliver fairness and opportunity where they are most needed. I commend the bill to the House.
