Albanese Labor Govt Watch

[Booney]

Yep - I read the BI saying the 5% equity is dangerous as you don't have a big enough buffer if you start to struggle financially
I haven't read much about the scheme. Does the Aust Govt's guarantee step in if you start defaulting or do you just avoid LMI?

The Home Guarantee Scheme is a federal government scheme allowing first home buyers to purchase a property with a 5 per cent deposit.

Those eligible can avoid paying LMI with the government acting as a guarantor for 15 per cent of the loan.

It means if the buyer defaults on their mortgage repayments — and selling the property doesn't cover the outstanding debt — the government will step in.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-01/ ... /105838164

[Jimmy_041]

Yep - I read the BI saying the 5% equity is dangerous as you don't have a big enough buffer if you start to struggle financially
I haven't read much about the scheme. Does the Aust Govt's guarantee step in if you start defaulting or do you just avoid LMI?

The Home Guarantee Scheme is a federal government scheme allowing first home buyers to purchase a property with a 5 per cent deposit.

Those eligible can avoid paying LMI with the government acting as a guarantor for 15 per cent of the loan.

It means if the buyer defaults on their mortgage repayments — and selling the property doesn't cover the outstanding debt — the government will step in.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-01/ ... /105838164

Thanks - so I was on the money. I was getting a bit mixed up with the scheme where the govt own part of the property

The Albanese Govt look like they are doing something but I can see why BI thinks its a crock. Banks will assess the risk (probably harsher) and if the punter defaults, they just blame the banks whilst we, the taxpayer, picks up the difference. The politicians just get re-elected AND their multiple investment properties continue to rise and make them even wealthier.

I reckon BI's dog's left knacker is safe

I wonder.......... how many people actually go through the process of what they can afford or do they just go the max. that a bank will give them (& then complain to all and sundry when they get themselves in the $hit)

This looks good: https://theconversation.com/how-do-bank ... ord-266389

[Jimmy_041]

https://www.afr.com/markets/debt-market ... d=31893483

First-home buyer scheme is a ‘cruel’ illusion, say economists

Cecile Lefort
Markets reporter
Oct 7, 2025 – 3.26pm

The government’s expanded first-home buyer scheme has been slammed by economists, who say it’s likely to increase property prices in an already overheated market while failing to address the underlying housing shortage.

The new policy, which allows aspiring first-home buyers to purchase a house with a deposit of just 5 per cent, instead of 20 per cent, without taking out lenders’ mortgage insurance, has already triggered a market frenzy in its first week.

“This is yet another cruel, cynical policy that will only have first home buyers competing against each other for the limited supply of housing available. It mainly benefits existing home owners,” said David Bassanese, chief economist at Betashares.

The view is echoed by Prashant Newnaha, a senior rates strategist at TD Securities.

“It’s a silly policy. It’s likely to drive house prices up. There is no free lunch.”

Even though the scheme is anticipated to lift house prices by up to 7 per cent this year, it will not boost the overall home ownership rate, according to The Australian Financial Review’s latest quarterly survey of economists, because it targets such a tiny pocket of the $11.6 billion local property market.

“The policy will be most effective if combined with a sharp uplift in dwelling completions. In the absence of this, it will mainly impact prices rather than home ownership levels,” said David Robertson, chief economist at Bendigo Bank.

Wealth accumulation
Home ownership in Australia is declining, especially for young people, as housing affordability worsens. This is largely because house prices are rising significantly faster than incomes.

Over three-quarters of Australians surveyed by pollsters Gallup were dissatisfied with the availability of affordable housing in 2024, compared to a median of 50 per cent in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

“I would be far happier to see public funds and resources directed at subsidising supply improvements rather than demand enhancements,” said Tim Toohey, head of macro and strategy at Yarra Capital.

Lowering construction costs and cutting red tape for developers would help tackle the historic housing shortage, he said.

However, a big problem is the lack of political will to make these changes.

“The reason our housing affordability problem hasn’t been solved, and won’t be solved, is because our politicians all know that a very large majority of voters don’t want it to be solved,” said Saul Eslake, a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief economist.

He estimates there are fewer than 1 million aspiring first-time buyers compared to 12 million people who already own at least one property and want prices to climb.

“Even the dumbest of our politicians can do that math,” said the independent economist.

He added that “the problem is that, over the last 30 years, Australians have come to regard housing not as something that meets basic human needs like shelter, but rather, as a vehicle for accumulating wealth”.

Bank tests
Even if the increased demand from first home buyers eventually encourages more building, a fundamental problem remains: a crippled supply chain.

“We are missing our annual construction targets by at least 60,000 and productivity in housing is low with the time taken to build a home increasing by around 60 per cent just in the last 10 years,” said Diana Mousina, deputy chief economist at AMP. “More supply is proving hard to achieve.”

She also doubts the home ownership rate will improve. “The scheme benefits only a small group of people who are lucky enough to get in, but then it just leads to higher prices, crowding out renters or people living at home,” she noted.

Another hurdle for the scheme is that, despite the government’s help, many Australians still may not have enough income to borrow from banks.

“Many households in the key first home buyers demographic – 25- to 34-year-olds – would struggle with loan serviceability tests even if they could borrow with a smaller deposit,” said Luci Ellis, chief economist at Westpac.

This is because mortgage rates are still too high for many borrowers, despite the Reserve Bank’s easing campaign and a marked slowdown in inflation.

“While rate cuts and rising real income will improve borrowing capacity, it will take some years to return to 2019 levels,” said Jo Masters, chief economist at Barrenjoey.

[DOC]

Any hopes for a strong opposition are just that bit harder now with the Nationals announcing they are abandoning the commitment to net zero by 2025.

Susan Ley will either have to follow suit or risk being opposed to its partner on what is a major issue for most voters.

She can’t win whichever way she goes. I think she will have to accept that the Nationals are only init for their seats and will accept opposition, hoping for cross bench support in the senate.Follow suit and they will not achieve government at anytime.

She may be replaced prior to the election as she is facing insurmountable opposition from within.

[DOC]

Graham Richardson, an astute commentator on both sides of politics passes await aged 76.

[dedja]

Graham Richardson, an astute commentator on both sides of politics passes await aged 76.

Quite amazing that he lived this long after his horrendous health issues.

Not sure how he will be remembered, controversy seemed to follow him regularly, so did the whispers of corruption, and he made many enemies.

Regardless, he suffered greatly from extreme medical issues for a very long time.

[am Bays]

There’ll be plenty of members of the NSW ALP left at the funeral (Pat Conroy et al), just to make sure he is dead…

[Jimmy_041]

Graham Richardson, an astute commentator on both sides of politics passes await aged 76.

Quite amazing that he lived this long after his horrendous health issues.

Not sure how he will be remembered, controversy seemed to follow him regularly, so did the whispers of corruption, and he made many enemies.

Regardless, he suffered greatly from extreme medical issues for a very long time.

He lived life to the fullest - on both sides of the street

Definitely corrupt (eg) research: Alpine Offset Printing Jewish stocktake fire / his Swiss bank account

Nevertheless, I always enjoyed his take on life and politics. RIP

[dedja]

Any hopes for a strong opposition are just that bit harder now with the Nationals announcing they are abandoning the commitment to net zero by 2025.

Susan Ley will either have to follow suit or risk being opposed to its partner on what is a major issue for most voters.

She can’t win whichever way she goes. I think she will have to accept that the Nationals are only init for their seats and will accept opposition, hoping for cross bench support in the senate.Follow suit and they will not achieve government at anytime.

She may be replaced prior to the election as she is facing insurmountable opposition from within.

The coalition is giving Labor an undeserved free ride. The Nats / Barnaby debacle is a farce, the Libs say hold my beer, we can top that.

[dedja]

Graham Richardson, an astute commentator on both sides of politics passes await aged 76.

Quite amazing that he lived this long after his horrendous health issues.

Not sure how he will be remembered, controversy seemed to follow him regularly, so did the whispers of corruption, and he made many enemies.

Regardless, he suffered greatly from extreme medical issues for a very long time.

He lived life to the fullest - on both sides of the street

Definitely corrupt (eg) research: Alpine Offset Printing Jewish stocktake fire / his Swiss bank account

Nevertheless, I always enjoyed his take on life and politics. RIP

Got to give it to him, still grifting after his death … will be given a State funeral.

[Booney]

The Liberal Party has officially abandoned its target of net zero emissions by 2050 after the policy caused a staggering rift among MPs.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley confirmed her party will no longer support hitting net zero by 2050 following a five-hour party room meeting in Canberra yesterday and a smaller meeting of shadow ministers this morning.

"The Liberal Party will remove a net zero target from our policy," Ley told reporters in Canberra today.

"We remain committed to the Paris Agreement and to doing our fair share to reduce emissions," Ley added.

"But we will do it in a way that protects households and budgets and keeps our economy strong."

Ley used the announcement to spruik the party's new "energy and emissions" policy.

She said this policy, in lieu of a target pledge, will help drive down surging power bills in Australia while also tackling rising emissions.
"Australians deserve affordable energy and responsible emissions reduction," Ley said.

"And the Liberal Party believes we can do both. But affordable energy must come first."

Ley claimed the Labor Party will fail in its pursuit of reducing emissions and energy prices at the same time.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/net-z ... 69da6546bd