Page 1873 - Week 09 - Thursday, 19 October 1989
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other such bodies should be included. The number on the board could be about 10 and the scheme could be operated by the industry, the Real Estate Institute, which could manage the day-to-day running and, of course, it all should be subject to audit.
If this scheme were introduced immediately, stamp duty exemptions could start from as early as 1 June 1990. The average stamp duty for a first home buyer is about $1,600. Of the 2,000-odd people who buy homes in Canberra - and I believe that figure is falling - 1,000 at most would be first home buyers. That would require about $1.6m from a fund which would have moneys available for first home buyers of, I am told, $2.25m. Indeed, it is probable that the number of first home buyers is fewer than 1,000.
This scheme - and I am quite happy to give the Government further details on that any time it wants them - would ensure that first home buyers are given incentives, that there is no cost to the ACT community and that the scheme is run efficiently, with necessary safeguards and fewer administrative costs, I would think, than there would be in what the Government is proposing. The various points the Government has flagged in relation to the rental bond trust and the fidelity guarantee fund are really adequately covered by this proposal, and the net saving to the ACT community would certainly be in the vicinity of at least $2m a year, comparing what the Government has here and what I have suggested.
In the Territory, where we really do have to look at every available scheme to save money to ensure that we can continue to provide services, not just in housing but right across the board to the community, it is important for schemes such as this to be seriously examined so that we can maximise whatever income we can receive from sources rather than spending money needlessly when it does not have to be spent. I commend that scheme to the Government and will quite happily see Mrs Grassby, give her further details and discuss them with her.
I look forward to receiving the additional information I have asked for. I reiterate the potential problems I can see arising from certain aspects of the youth housing scheme, although it appears she is taking that seriously and addressing some of those problems; I commend her for that. I will be interested to see further developments arising from the housing policy review and the adoption of government policy in that area. I will certainly be closely monitoring it.
MR WOOD (12.01): Mr Speaker, in an earlier debate on a matter of public importance on the housing policy review I spoke at length about the issue of youth homelessness, a subject in which I continue to take a close interest. Therefore, I was pleased with the range of measures which the Minister has put together to enable the Government to make a start on this problem, and it is a problem that has
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