tJ PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
OPENING OF NEW ASTORIA PARK VILLAGE
SYDNEY 6 SEPTEMBER 1986
It was w. ith great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to
open this exciting new project, the New Astoria Park
Exhibition village.
I understand the Exhibition site contains fifteen exhibition
homes all by Kimberley Homes a Product Information
Centre, an office of the St George Building Society and an
office of the Land Commission of New South Wales. As such,
the village provides a " one stop" housing " supermarket",
which places the product of the housing industry before home
buyers in a new and very imaginative way. The keen interest
shown in this project by the public is testament to this
fact. It is also a special delight to me, as I travel around
Australia, to witness in these difficult times such creative
and innovative projects as the Astoria Park Village. The
team approach to the development of the project a team
covering building product suppliers, housing finance and
land development demonstrates the ability of Australians
to respond to challenges with imagination and co-operation.
Australians workino together to provide innovative solutions
to problems is precisely what we need today.
The Australian housing industry is one of our most efficient
industries. it is one of t~ z world's most efficient housing
industries. Ac a result Auistralians today are amona the
best housed po,' znl-in the w. l. Given that most materials
used in home ccnstruction at: e made in Australia, buying a
home provides rcost Australians with their greatest
opportunity to. " Buy Australian". I am naturally delighted
to hear that a1l buildinq r3terials used in this village are
Australian built or manufactured.
The pride of place of the Australian housing industry is no
historical accident. Much is owed to the fine quality of
Australian-made building products. Much is owed to the
superiority of design in Australian housing. But above all,
much is owed to the professional people in the industry:
from buildert to buildinc product manufacturers to home
financiers.
2.
Because of this range of strengths, I believe the Australian
housing industry has much to offer other countries,
especially the rapidly-expanding countries in our own
region. Rapid economic expansion typically produces a
rapidly expanding demand for good housing. The Australian
housing industry has " on tap" the professional people and
the products to contribute to the housing development of
these nearby countries. I urge participants in the
Australian industry to seek out opportunities in this area.
Such opportunities must be developed if this country is to
trade its way out of our current economic difficulties.
As a result of the large depreciation of our currency in the
past 18 months we are well placed to achieve this goal. I
have great ccnfidence that the housing industry will respond
to such a challenge. One reason for this confidence is the
effective anc fruitful working relationship that has
developed between the industry and my Government over the
last three and a half years. Since taking office, we have
maintained a strong commitment to the housing industry. our
response to changing, circumstances within the industry has
been imaginative and innovative.
when we came to office three and a half years ago, the
industry was in a disastrous state. In 1982/ 83, private
housing commencements fell a massive 25 per cent from
123,600 to 92,300: one of the worst slumps on record. many
thousands of jobs were lost to the industry, contributing to
the, sharp rise in overall unemploym'ent in that year. There
was also a sharp increase in " unsatisfied demand" in the
industry, which had a high cost in social and personal
terms.
My Qovernment acted promptly to restore prosperity to the
industry. We introduced the imaginative First Home Owners
Scheme on 1 October 1983. The scheme was designed with the
particular needs of young couples buying their first homes
in mind. These people typically have lower than average
incomes and limited savings, and therefore faced a
considerable hurdle i. n purchasing their first home.
The First Home Owners scheme has been an outstanding
success. In its first nine months of operation a period
endino on 30 June 1984 55,000 applicants were assisted
under th-Scheme, ar cost to the Budget in 1983/ 84 of $ 141
millicn. initial e.'-ectations of the demand for assistance
were excesed by al! 77st 50 percent. In 1984,./ 85, a further
87,000 aprl.-cants w. ere assisted, and on-going assistance was
provided to previously successful applicants. The
Governmeznt's financial commitment to the Scheme continued at
a very 1. iah level in 1985/ 86.
Spending is e;: pected to fall somewhat this year, mainly
because the initial popularity of the Scheme produced an
early bunching of applications. However, there was no
change to the eligibility requirements for assistance under
FHOS in anecessarily very tough Budget last month.
The introduction of FHOS contributed substantially to the
dramatic recovery in private housing activity. Private
housing commencements rose by a massive 33 per cent in
1983/ 84 and a further 13 percent in 1984/ 85. Employment in
the industr7y has boomed, with some 50,000 jobs being created
during the recovery.
The problems which FHOS was developed to solve abated as the
housing recovery gathered momentum. However, new problems,
requiring neai solutions, emerged for the industry last year.
Once again, the Government responded with positive,
imaginative action.
The Government was not prepared to stand by and see a total
reversal of all that we had worked so hard to achieve in the
industry over the previous three years. So in April of this
year, we introduced a package of measures representing a
timely and lasting response to the housing finance shortage.
The main elements of the package were removal of the ceiling
on new savings bank home loans and provision of a $ 145 m
subsidy over twelve months to restore the competitive
position of savings banks in the deposit market. But an
essential element of the package was that the ceiling would
remain in place for existing loans, so that those with bank
mortgages approved prior to the package continue to receive
the protection provided by the 13.5 per cent ceiling.
In addition savings banks made a commitment to lend $ 6
billion over the following year, a dramatic increase on what
was in prospect. And banks have agree~ d to increase their
effort to provide innovative lending packages tailored to
meet the needs of those on moderate incomes.'
The Government's package has clearly been a success.
Deposit nflow has been rebuilt. Housing lending is
proceeding at a rate well in excess of the annual target of
$ 6 billion. All banks have increased lending under low
start loan packages, which are tailored to meet the needs of
lower income earners.
To date the package has worked well. The Government sees no
reascn to alter it at this stage.
In addition my , vernment has provided a massive and
sustained incrE-~ se in the Commonwealth's commitment to
pulzIlc housir:. Funds available in 1986-87 under the CSHA
( and under the low interest Loan Council nomination
arranoements) are 86 per cent higher than in 1982-83. The
result, has been a large increase in public housing
cornmencemcnts: the annual average number of commencements
during our first three years was 46 per cent higher than
that of the last three years of the previous Government.
Other housing initiatives we have taken include support for
efforts to achieve a more cost-effective building regulatory
environment and promote more flexible approaches to
residential land development. Extra funding-has been
provided in this Budget for a number of innovative programs
in this area.
4.
All of our housing initiatives bear the hallmarks of the
Government's approach to problem solving: problems are
faced directly and tackled with imagination and creativity.
we do not bury our heads in the sand. Further, we believe
strongly in a " team" approach, where governments do not act
alone, but consult widely, in designing and implementing
solutions. In conclusion, alight I say how glad I am to see how much has
been achieved, and is still being achieved, in the
Australian housing industry. Achievements built upon the
imaginative and forward looking attitudes of those thousands
of Australians working in the industry. Achievements built
upon fruitful co-operation between government and industry.
Achievements examplified by this exciting new Exhibition
village. The housing industry is an example to us all of
the problem solving, innovative approach so sorely needed in
this country today. When I see that Australians working
together are ca ' pable of achievements such as this, I know
the problems we face will be overcome.