Taxation Legislation (Misc. Amendments) Bill 2024 (No 22)

Wednesday 7 August 2024

[11.45 a.m.]

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Mr President, I will make a few brief remarks on this bill. It is quite a short bill, but one which I hope will go on to make quite a difference for many of those who are making their way into the property market.

As we know, Tasmania has not been immune to the surge in demand for dwellings, which has required us to rethink and get creative about how we provide more housing to meet higher demand. Solutions to these sorts of policy conundrums has made us re-examine how we provide land to develop and how we can better use spaces for units and apartments.

This bill facilitates a 50 per cent stamp duty concession to buyers of a new apartment or off-plan under construction valued up to $750,000. That is quite a high amount, but we have had that discussion before and I will leave that there. This has the dual benefit of helping buyers who meet the eligibility requirements under the legislation purchasing a new apartment or unit off the plan, but it also provides certainty for builders and developers that mitigates the risks associated with larger scale projects and does put in a barrier against unexpected cost increases for purchases, which we know can be a major risk at times and can be financially catastrophic.

Over time it is hopeful this will have a positive effect of having safe market conditions for developers and purchasers, which should in turn result in a greater supply of housing in Tasmania. Generally, we need a wide range of options for living in Tasmania. Dwellings are needed for everyone from single people to families, kids and couples, and having different options for lower to higher density living simply makes sense. We are starting to find in higher density areas that there are many creative options available to make those sorts of living arrangements a reality. We should be doing everything we can to make more dwellings available and provide more options to people who live here, people who are seeking to live here, people who want to buy and people who want to develop these sorts of spaces.

This bill is an important step in the direction and I support it.