The Coalitions' Offer to Improve Housing Affordability

John Howard has put forward a low-tax deposit savings account pledge to assist first-home buyers as part of the Coalitions' election bounty. The $1.56 billion plan is similar to the $600m pledge of Kevin Rudds.

Under the Coalition's scheme, two forms of saving account will be available:

1) Adult first-home buyers will be able to make contributions of up to $10,000 per year into a home deposit saving account. The first $1000 deposited each year is claimable as a tax deduction and interest earned on sums in the account are tax free.

2) Adults will be able to make a total contribution of up to $1000 per year towards the first-home purchase of a family member or friend below the age of 18. The contributions are tax deductible or, for people with no taxable income, subject to a 15% cash rebate.

Additionally, Howard has also promised to exempt first homes purchased in shared equity arrangements between the occupant and a contributing family member from capital gains tax.

If you're trying to work out which party's offer is the most generous, here's what the Housing Industry Association’s Chris Lamont had to say:

“Tax concessions under the Coalition policy appears more generous than what’s offered by Labor,” Lamont says. “But Labor has more of a focus on balancing the needs of home owners with the rental market, so overall they are both very good policies.”

The reality, however, is that neither policy is likely to improve housing affordability, despite the multi-million dollar tax concessions involved. What is being promoted is creating a culture of saving.

Thus, whilst the housing affordability crisis will not be solved by such policies, it would appear that both parties are listening to the concerns of Australians. Simon Turner

Read Marquette Turner's account of Labor's policy.

The Roy Morgan Reactor: Interest Rates

Watch the Roy Morgan Reactor, a very clever use of graphs that move in time with ALP and Coalition announcements and ads.

Watch HERE

The Right to Know

“Australia’s Right to Know”, a Sydney-based coalition of media companies, commissioned a report from Irene Moss, a former magistrate and New South Wales state ombudsman. According to a statment released on November 5th, Mrs Moss found 335 pieces of legislation with secrecy provisions. Thus, can it be true that press freedom, and indeed the freedom of information in Australia is increasingly becoming endangered by the growth of government secrecy.

Ms Moss claims that the burdens associated with freedom-of-information filings have begun to overwhelm many journalists. In one particular case, government officials demanded almost $13,000 for “decision-making time” related to the release of documents about climate change around the Great Barrier Reef.

Whilst I do not believe that we're on the path to becoming like North Korea, it is nevertheless concerning to hear that bureaucracy and secrecy are taking hold of such a champion of democracy. Simon Turner

Homes for the Homeless

As part of its electioneering, Labor has unveiled a $150 million promise to build up to 600 new houses and units across the country to provide better access to housing for homeless people.

Mr Rudd, speaking at a Mission Australia shelter in inner Sydney, said Labor's aim is to halve the number of homeless people turned away from shelters each year within five years and close the gap within a decade to ensure all homeless obtained shelter.

"This is all part of reaching out with a helping hand to Australians in need," he told reporters.

Mr Rudd said figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicated that in 2005-06 there were 3,383 requests for emergency accommodation that could not be met.

That was almost five per cent of the total number of requests for emergency accommodation, he said. At Mission Australia, where Mr Rudd talked to residents, more than half of all single adult women seeking accommodation are turned away.

"In a nation that has experienced 16 consecutive years of economic growth, this is simply not acceptable," stated Mr Rudd. Simon Turner

Labor Offers First Home Buyers a Lifeline

Should Labor win Government, it has promised to establish low-tax saving accounts to encourage first home buyers to save more towards a house deposit.

Under the scheme, which will cost $600 million over four years, first home buyers can make a pre-tax deposit of up to $5000 per year into a special deposit saving account that will be taxed at just 15%. Another $5000 per year after-tax can also be deposited, with interest from the full sum in the account also taxed at the low 15% rate.

The money can only be accessed after four years and must be put towards a home deposit – money can still be withdrawn if not used for that purpose, but the value of the tax concessions will be subtracted from the sum withdrawn. A minimum deposit of $1000 per year is required to keep an account open and the total amount deposited cannot exceed $50,000.

By encouraging first home owners to save, the scheme will help reduce debt levels and the use of expensive deposit guarantees like mortgage insurance, according to Housing Industry Association senior executive director Chris Lamont.

For many, however, even the $1000 minimum may be tough for some people to meet, particularly given that rental prices are on the high side, but certainly some assistance and encouragement is better than nothing. Simon Turner

Read Marquette Turner's account of the Coalition's policy

Melbourne Cup - Who Bet on Whom?

Whilst neither party's leader joined the fanfair at Flemington, Howard’s favourite, Mahler, came in third and Rudd backed the winner Efficient (after his original choice was scratched).

Simon Turner

Australia's Broadband Speed

Broadband is front and centre in election campaigning today, with Coalition Communication Minister Helen Coonan seeking to capitalise on OECD figures showing that Australia has the 9th fastest broadband in the world.

According to Coonan, the OECD’s global internet rankings show Australia is performing well compared to many other developed nations, and clearly does not support Kevin Rudd's claim that Australia's broadband performance is woeful.

As well as the 9th fastest broadband in the world, Australia also has the 4th most affordable broadband, the 6th fastest broadband connection speeds and the 12th fastest take-up of broadband services of the 30 countries surveyed by the OECD.

Simon Turner

"Change it all" by Peter Garrett

Listen to the sound bite relating to Peter Garrett's comment that should Labor take government that, when it comes to their policies, they'll just "change it all". CLICK here

Simon Turner

Recycling Policies

Malcolm Turnbull, the Environment Minister and Peter Garrett, his Labor counterpart, squared off in a short debate yesterday on the Seven Network to outline the environmental platform on which their parties are fighting this month’s Federal Election

As previously mentioned, Mr Turnbull is also the local member for Wentworth, thus Marquette Turner’s HQ falls within his constituency so we are taking a particular awareness of his actions and policies.

After I questioned Mr Turnbull on the fact that despite him being the Minister for Environment, I found it quite ironic that our HQ, which is in fact in Crown St, only 5 minutes walk from his office, we do not get the benefit of recycling.

His response to me was that this was the responsibility of the local council, but would indeed allay my concerns to the local Liberal member (whom notably, does not hold the local council seat).

To add insult to injury, he stated in his debate that recycling is essentially at the heart of his policies and is indeed one of his initiatives.

Whilst I certainly appreciated the speed of his personal response, and my comments are certainly not intended to “point the finger” at the policies of one particular party (both of whose representatives have not been immune from gaffes), I also believe the accountability and “keeping the bastards honest” doesn’t hurt, and in this particular issue Mr Turnbull draws the short straw.

Recylcing should indeed be at the heart of an environmental policy as it SHOULD BE something that every single Australian can participate in. Whilst we can exert pressure when it comes to our believes on whether Kyoto is ratified or not, recycling is an every-day action that each household should be given the opportunity to take part in. Mr Turnbull, please get your local "house in order”. Simon Turner

An Education Revolution in Real Estate is Sorely Overdue

With the Federal election unfolding the concept of an education revolution has pricked my ears up. Recently the Marquette Turner Director's convened a "think tank" where we spent two days in lockdown considering how best to continue educating our team as well as what new initiatives could help in attracting high calibre individuals to our company and also the industry as a whole. Simon Turner, Christine Watson and myself are committed to a transformed industry where tertiary level training is compulsory and negotiation is formally taught and examined. Our vision is to see the real estate industry in Australia mature into the profession that it needs to be - much like Accounting, Medicine and Law.

The reality is that real estate agents are one of the highest paid consultants in any industry, yet the entry requirements are so low and the training reality is that very few people ever fail once enrolled in the course. The "pass everyone" mentality is continuing to see hundreds of people enter the industry - most really should not be there. I have listened to the education plans of both major parties and while they are both touting to increase spending on education there appears to be little focus on improving or completely restructuring the training requirements for real estate and other professions which are in desperate need of an overhaul. Marquette Turner is a fierce opponent of the "increase places" education revolution that seems to be the centrepiece of what we are hearing. Simply increasing the number of places does not improve systems that are clearly failing and in need of immediate attention.

It was only yesterday when I was told of a real estate agent in Newcastle offering a potential purchaser part of his commission if he were to buy a house from him. This sort of person should not be in the industry and is a perfect example of why a formal, tertiary level qualification is so desperately needed at Bachelor level as part of the process of cleaning up the real estate industry. More places in existing training programs where standards are low and almost everyone is guaranteed to pass is just not the answer. Let's hope our politicians are listening. Rest assured that Marquette Turner is working diligently towards creating such a revolution. Michael Marquette

Junk Mail: Electoral Rubbish

The upcoming Federal election is causing some vendor jitters in deciding when to sell. Vendors are troubled by the election date of November 24, which is a Saturday and real estate agents are doing all they can to avoid auctioning homes on that weekend. At Marquette Turner Estate Agents we have decided to delay all auctions to avoid the election weekend and we are running new sales campaigns well into December which is extremely rare. The election has resulted in a late "real estate Spring" with the usual Spring influx of new property being delayed until December or the new year.

The election wait has also allowed for me to personally consider what I might do on election day. With our Sydney Headquarters being in Crown Street, East Sydney we are positioned in the Federal seat of Wentworth which is currently held by Malcolm Turnbull for the Liberal Party. It just happens that Mr Turnbull is also the Federal Minister for the Environment so I would expect that he would be extremely active in ensuring that the environment is top priority in his electorate. We have nightly rubbish collections during the week and yet we don't have any recycling facilities for at the Marquette Turner Office. In fact all of our rubbish is collected, unsorted and taken away as if the environment was the last thing on Mr Turnbull's mind.

It is difficult to get political in any situation as both parties have positives and negatives however when such simple things are ignored by the Federal Minister for the Environment I cannot help but wonder what the best thing to do on election day will be? As a real estate agent and a Director of Marquette Turner Estate Agents I have always seen it as my responsibility to act in the best interests of the properties and clients I represent as well as the company I represent. It is of great concern that our Federal Minister for the Environment could miss something so simple which is only a couple of hundred metres from his office. If Wentworth falls to Labor then Mr Turnbull has only himself to blame - Marquette Turner is committed to a greener world and it is under our own initiative that we promote environmentally friendly ways to market, recycle and run our business.

Unnecessary Election Jitters

No one wants to have the distraction of an election on their auction day, so real estate agents and vendors have been playing a guessing game as to how to run their auction campaigns to the best effect

Whilst some have abandoned a spring campaign altogether, Michael Marquette of Marquette Turner points out that this favours vendors as there'll clearly be less stock on the market.

An election, in Australia, regardless of the result, will seriously have little if any effect on the Australian housing market, says fellow director Simon Turner.

There are so many other factors that are involved in creating market conditions that "sitting on ones hands" proves beneficial to no one.

Election round-up: the story so far...

The Howard camp had a difficult weekend with a rift developing between Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull and John Howard over signing the Kyoto protocol and coming under increasing pressure of a broken promise over interest rates.

Meanwhile the Greens and ALP are negotiating a preference-swap deal that leaves Family First out in the cold. But reports this morning point out this could mean that tough competition between the minor parties could mean the Coalition will remain in control of the upper house.

The biggest promise comes from Labor leader Kevin Rudd. He has promised a $1 billion package of grants and tax breaks designed to encourage investment in desalination and water recycling infrastructure.

Local and state governments will be able to apply grants of up to $100 million for desalination or waste water recycling projects, while businesses will be eligible for tax breaks worth up to 10% of the value of eligible projects.

Howard has committed a further $390 million for the Work Skills Voucher program. The program provides vouchers worth up to $3000 for people to take courses in areas such as ICT, accounting and administration. The new funding will make room for a further 110,000 people to claim the vouchers.

Jacqui Walker, smartcompany