Victorian opposition pledges to ditch stamp duty for first-home buyers

Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Stamp duty will be scrapped for first-home buyers who purchase any property valued up to $1 million if the Victorian Liberals and Nationals are elected at next year's state election. Opposition Leader Brad Battin and Shadow Treasurer James Newbury announced the "bold and visionary plan" as part of its budget reply. The tax-exemption would be applied to more than 17,000 first-home purchases in its first full year, according to estimations by the Parliamentary Budget Office. Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin and Shadow Treasurer James Newbury. (Getty images) Battin said described the policy, which forms the centrepiece of the opposition's budget reply, a "common-sense reform" that would deliver "the circuit-breaker Victoria desperately needs". "Labor's war on property and addiction to tax has destroyed confidence in the economy," he said. "We need a plan to grow, not just tax and spend." Newbury added the proposal focused on "giving aspirational first home buyers the final leg up they need" "This policy is about rewarding aspiration. It's about giving young Victorians a fair go," he said. "For too many young Victorians, the first home dream has become a nightmare. "This policy is about backing in renters that have been stuck in the rental market not by their own choice, but by a tax system that is stacked against them."' On a $750,000 home, Victorians pay an average of $40,000 in up-front stamp duty. In October 2024, the Allan Government announced a 12-month stamp duty concession for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses. That tax cut is available for homes of any value and is not limited to first-home buyers. The concession is tipped to save home-buyers an average of $25,000 in its first full year, according to Allan. Victoria
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ABC News

17 hours ago

• ABC News

Victorian Liberal leader Brad Battin says party infighting is over as focus shifts to 2026 election

Victorian opposition leader Brad Battin has conceded some Liberal Party MPs have focused more on internal rivalries than voters, but has said his team will be unified heading into the election in 2026. Mr Battin described the party's decision to provide former leader John Pesutto a $1.55 million loan to avoid bankruptcy, a policy he supported, as a "line in the sand" that signalled a renewed focus on winning government. The long-running fight between Mr Pesutto and fellow Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who successfully sued her former leader for defamation, has divided the party. It became a proxy battle in a broader ideological struggle for control of the party. In an interview with the ABC, Mr Battin said he was speaking to every MP individually following the decision to provide Mr Pesutto a financial lifeline, stressing the need for unity. "You've been elected as a local member of parliament. You've got the self-discipline to get there. You just need now to put that into team unity." Asked whether MPs who failed to be team players would face consequences, Mr Battin said voters would ultimately decide. "The consequences are, you lose the election. It's a pretty simple consequence." The Coalition has not won a Victorian election since 2010 and has been crippled by infighting. A common criticism is that too many MPs are focused more on getting to parliament rather than winning government. "I think there's always an element of that, because it's been publicly perceived as that,'' Mr Battin said. The Berwick MP said it was incumbent on MPs to reflect on why they were elected. "What things did you want to see change in the state? And can you do it from opposition? If the answer is yes … then you're probably in the wrong job." Mr Battin challenged Mr Pesutto's leadership six months ago after his supporters undermined Mr Pesutto's position, but Mr Battin reiterated throughout the interview that his team was now united. He hinted that the frontbench team could change but would not say if Mr Pesutto or Ms Deeming would be included in a revamped shadow cabinet. Ms Deeming had proposed an alternative to the party loaning Mr Pesutto money, including delaying his court order debt if her preselection was guaranteed. Mr Battin declined to comment on that or complaints to the state's anti-corruption watchdog, citing legal advice not to speak publicly on the matter. While expressing confidence in the team he would take to the election, Mr Battin said some MPs would need to reflect on their future. "People have to make decisions about time served in parliament, if they want to stay or not,'' he said. The Coalition must add 16 seats at next year's November election to win office. The task is big, but after three terms of Labor, there is a genuine chance for the Liberals, Mr Battin believed. "We've got one chance coming up in about 16 months. It's our opportunity to ensure we prove to Victorians we're ready." He said the party would now focus on policy, with internal disputes hopefully behind him. Mr Battin admitted the long-running conflict between Mr Pesutto and Ms Deeming took a toll on him, including sleepless nights. "It takes a physical and mental challenge on you … but it's resolved my drive. I know what I need to do to win at the next election." He doesn't regret how he handled the matter, stressing that it was a dispute between two individuals. Some MPs criticised Mr Battin for a lack of leadership in failing to resolve the crisis sooner, while others were angered by his decision to support the loan to Mr Pesutto, highlighting the party's ongoing divisions. "I know what I need to do to win at the next election. I need to get the right policy settings, have the right processes with my team, ensure we're a united front, and send a message to Victoria that we're ready to govern."

Herald Sun

18 hours ago

• Herald Sun

Opposition Leader Brad Battin committed to winning state election

Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News. It's been a tumultuous first six months for Opposition Leader Brad Battin. Once asked what knocks a government off course former UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously said: 'Events, dear boy, events'. From his controversial cruise holiday, to his deputy being embroiled in a parliamentary allowances scandal, internal turmoil inside his party room, factional warfare and the never-ending saga that is the ongoing feud between John Pesutto and Moira Deeming, events have made the first six months of Battin's leadership a rough ride. Despite best efforts and intentions the party has slipped backwards in the polls, only narrowly, for the first time in more than 12 months and in recent weeks serious questions about whether he will lead the party to next year's November election have been raised among MPs and party members. There's no plan to topple him, numbers aren't being counted, and talk of change right now is only hypothetical. But Battin accepts the talk is happening and says while frustrating, it makes no difference to how he tackles his job. Battin has the will, the belief, and the want to succeed in spades, and believes his Opposition has become increasingly effective, even if admitting his focus couldn't have been wholly on the task of forming government over the past six months. Most of that was because of inherited, rather than created, problems. Less than 24 hours after he helped orchestrate a deal to save the political career of John Pesutto – via a $1.55m Liberal Party loan that will allow him to pay the $2.3m he owes Moira Deeming and avoid bankruptcy – Battin told the Sunday Herald Sun he can finally focus on winning government. 'It's now time to start talking about our vision and what we want to see for Victoria,' he said. 'We know that Victoria has struggled for far too long under this Labor government. 'We want to return Victoria to what it should be, which is to have fairness, opportunity and safety for everyone. 'And I think it's really important that we start to get back to the things that are important to people at home.' Battin knows his party has for too long failed to resonate with Victorians as its MPs waged war on each other instead of on the Labor government. But he feels there's been a shift under his watch, and points to a series of policy backflips by Jacinta Allan to prove his point. 'A good opposition obviously makes a more accountable government and we can already see we're having an impact,' he said. 'They're reversing some of their bail laws because they know we're holding them to account. 'We are being more effective, and I think the team knows that. 'So now we just got to get it so the only thing we're talking about is going to the next election.' The Coalition need to win 16 seats, and lose none, to form government at the 2026 election which will take massive swings against Labor across the state. A perceived policy vacuum remains a major stumbling block in achieving that plan. For years the Liberals have defined themselves by what they oppose rather than what they stand for. Battin talks in broad statements about his vision for Victoria, but little by way of detailed policy has been put forward, to the frustration of some of his party room. Battin is also facing a generational problem. Young voters have all but turned away from the Liberals because they see a party fixated on culture wars and nostalgia, not cost of living or climate. Battin knows the Liberals won't win again until they reconnect with voters under 40, and his challenge his dragging some of his party room with him. He sees housing and cost of living as election winning issues, followed by crime. 'We want to unlock the opportunity for home ownership. We know we're going to grow the economy, whether that's via cutting taxes or in creating opportunities for investment,' he said. 'We want to reduce the cost of living … and make sure we can get gas back into the market. 'Education is a big issue, and the health system, we're seeing it daily, people are genuinely dying now because of the state of the health system.' To keep on message and sell his Opposition as a viable alternative government Battin knows he needs to unite his team – a problem which has plagued many of his predecessors. He plans to do it by meeting with each and every MP in his stable and talking to them about their goals for government. 'I will speak to every single member and as when you first came into parliament, what did you say in your maiden speech, what were you going to deliver and can you do it from opposition? 'If the answer is no, then it's time to focus on getting into government. 'I believe that once we've had the conversations with people and they can get the realignment, I think people want to win. 'People in our party are sick of not just being in opposition, but sick of the worst government in Australia's history. 'You've got to find the common goal. It's like any football club, any sports team, any business.' That goal, forming government, has been seemingly too lofty an ambition to unite the team for much of the past decade, but Battin has faith he can turn that around. Even if he is facing accusations of picking sides in the feud between Pesutto and Deeming – a claim he vehemently rejects. The perception has put him off-side with a number of colleagues who he will need to placate if he stands any chance of party unity moving forward. Asked if he wants to see Mrs Deeming preselected to run in 2026 – a move which would all but secure her a second term in parliament – Battin says only that he wants to take his current team to the next election. It is a tacit endorsement. 'I know the reasons I got into politics, I know the things I want to deliver, and I can't do them from opposition,' he says. 'Sometimes it just takes that reminder again to say, we've only got 16 months. It is time now to start focusing on those outcomes, and to get those outcomes you need to win an election.'

Sky News AU

a day ago

• Sky News AU

‘It's got to stop': Victorian crime statistics reveal ‘rampant' uptick in offences

Sky News contributor Joe Hildebrand comments on Victorian crime statistics. 'As I keep saying, there's absolutely nothing progressive about letting crime run rampant and letting criminals onto the street,' Mr Hildebrand told Sky News host Steve Price. 'This overwhelmingly affects people in the already most socially disadvantaged suburbs, they are the ones to be far more likely victims of crime. 'It's got to stop.'