PM leaves his best until last in pitch to homebuyers

Scott Morrison has taken a gamble in leaving his policy launch so late, less than a week before polling day. More than 1.6 million out of 17.2 million Australians have already voted. In one of his strongest speeches this year, the Prime Minister pitched two important policies, one of which could prove to be a game-changer. The opposition has already copied one of the policies. That is, lowering the age, from 65 to 55 years, at which Australians are able to downsize their properties and invest up to $300,000 per person from the proceeds into their superannuation funds, outside existing contribution caps. More significantly, a Coalition government would allow homebuyers to invest up to 40 per cent of their superannuation, to a maximum of $50,000, to help with buying their first homes, in addition to saving a 5 per cent deposit.

Opposition and ACTU criticisms claiming that the plan is a “shameless attack’’ on superannuation do not stand scrutiny. First, the money involved is the first-home buyers’ own money – not taxpayers’ money, unlike Labor’s more convoluted housing scheme in which the government would own up to 30 or 40 per cent of homes. Second, the Coalition’s scheme will not leave homebuyers with less superannuation long-term and therefore more likely to be dependent on the age pension in retirement. Under the scheme, when they sell their homes, the $50,000 or lesser amount of super used in the deposit would be returned to the buyers’ super funds, in addition to a portion of the capital gains. Third, property has proved to be a competitive investment for decades, much favoured by self-managed superannuation fund holders. There is no reason, economically or philosophically, why first-home buyers should not be allowed to invest their own hard-earned super savings in their own homes. The scheme, to begin in mid-2023, would be especially helpful to young people unable to rely on the “bank of mum and dad’’ to help them on to the property ladder sooner. Mr Morrison is correct when he says “the evidence shows that the best thing we can do to help Australians achieve financial security in their retirement is to help them own their own home”. The scheme would be flexible, applying to new and existing homes. Most importantly, it would foster aspiration, saving and investment by individuals, couples and families – at no cost to the budget, because it does not involve taxpayers’ money. In that way, it draws a sharp battleline between the government and the opposition, whose housing policy is anchored in government taking a bigger role in Australians’ lives.

Mr Morrison’s speech pulled together the strands of the Coalition’s re-election bid pitch, especially its economic record and national security credentials, including stopping the boats. Promising a new comprehensive cancer centre for Queensland, combining research, diagnosis and treatment as part of a national network, he emphasised that such investments were only possible when governments delivered a strong economy: “Otherwise you’re just talking about stuff. You can’t deliver it.’’

The same applied to defence, he said, announcing an additional $454m to accelerate the Loyal Wingman Project to build an unmanned aerial stealth vehicle, leveraging artificial intelligence, to support air combat, reconnaissance and surveillance missions. Now that the benign security environment Australia and the Western world had enjoyed, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the global financial crisis, was history, one thing Australia could not afford was weak leadership: “We must continue to harden our defences and build our deterrent capability and defend our values wherever they are challenged.’’ He emphasised the government’s laws to counter foreign interference and espionage and what he called “the world’s most successful border protection regime … (that) ended the deaths and closed the detention centres”.

After his character has been pilloried relentlessly, Mr Morrison got the tone right when he conceded he had “not got everything right’’, but defended his record handling the pandemic and its economic fallout: “I never leave anything on the field.” He was seeking a second term as Prime Minister, he said, “because I’m just warming up’’. It may have come too late, but it was a strong pitch for the final campaign week.