STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms FRANCE (Dickson) (13:50): Twenty-one years old, first job, first home—that's not a fantasy. That is actually possible thanks to Labor's five per cent deposit scheme for first home buyers. Zeke and Emma from my electorate of Dickson are two 21-year-old super savers who, after 12 months of searching, have managed to buy their first home using Labor's five per cent deposit scheme.

Their purchase is just one of 1,846 by first home buyers in my electorate of Dickson who have taken advantage of our five per cent deposit scheme. I met Zeke a couple of months ago at his workplace in Brendale. He's a 21-year-old fourth-year apprentice metal fabricator.

He said: If we didn't have access to the 5% deposit scheme, we would not have the house we're in now. For too long, young Australians have felt that homeownership is out of reach. Labor is changing that.

We're changing that with our five per cent deposit scheme, our help to buy scheme and record investment in social and affordable housing, as well as investment in new housing infrastructure and, of course, tax reform on negative gearing and CGT which means first home buyers no longer have to compete against investors for existing housing. We're levelling the playing field for people like Zeke and Emma.