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Daily Telegraph
18 minutes ago
- Daily Telegraph
Housing industry leaders urge Coalition not to block 80,000 new homes
Housing industry leaders have urged the Opposition to reconsider its objection to policy reforms, arguing it would block an estimated 80,000 new homes from being built. Shadow Minister for Housing Andrew Bragg announced on July 29 that the Coalition will table a motion to disallow changes to the Labor Government's build-to-rent scheme. The proposed changes would see tax cuts provided for foreign investors. Mr Bragg said the Labor Government's proposed tax reforms did not align with 'The Australian Dream' and argued that it went against the national interest. 'Labor's foreign investor tax cut promotes the Australian nightmare of lifelong renting over the Australian dream of home ownership,' he said. 'Labor's obsession with foreign landlords and big super taking over Australian housing once again prioritises vested interests over Australia's national interest. 'The Australian Dream is about people – not corporations.' Mr Bragg said the Coalition's priority is for Australians of all ages to own their own home. 'While the Coalition strongly supports foreign investment, it needs to fit with Australian culture and expectations,' he said. 'Labor should … be working with the home building sector to turn around the slump in housing construction which has coincided with the largest population surge since the 1950s.' Property Council of Australia chief executive Mike Zorbas opposed the Shadow Minister's motion, saying members of parliament had an obligation to prioritise the supply of new homes to rent and buy. 'This is wrecking ball policy,' he said. 'The main game, the only game in Australia right now, should be the rapid supply of new housing … we need to make owning a home as easy as we can. 'Equally, people need different housing choices throughout the stages of their lives.' Mr Zorbas said the supply gap for housing was 'huge', with the nation building homes half as quickly as it was in 1995. 'Australians expect the Parliament to pull every supply lever we can to make homes less expensive for people who need to buy or rent,' he said. 'Threatening to knock out 80,000 new rental homes will directly raise the cost of new homes for everyone in the market.' Urban Taskforce Australia CEO Tom Forrest said the Opposition's disallowance motion was 'a throwback to the failed housing policies of the Dutton leadership' and 'should be ignored'. 'The Liberal Party is taking an ill-conceived, ideological stance, made worse by a none-too-subtle xenophobic attack on foreign investment,' he said. 'Australia needs all the investment it can get when it comes to housing supply.' Mr Forrest said when it came to housing, people benefitted from the construction of both build-to-sell and build-to-rent dwellings. The Coalition's announcement comes three days after developers confirmed that it had secured three prime development build-to-rent sites in Bondi Junction, set to provide a proposed 900 apartments. The developer also purchased a lot for a build-to-rent site in Ultimo back in May. Mr Bragg said the Coalition 'invites a serious debate about the government's housing record in the Senate and we seek the chamber's support for our disallowance motion.'
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Australian-made rocket company not allowing failure to stop them
Stepmates Studios Mark Nicholson shared his optimistic comments on the recent rocket failure from an Australian made company. 'We're bloody patriots, that's why we're not going to mock this stuff, because this is what we want, we want Australians manufacturing stuff,' Mr Nicholson told Sky News Australia. 'Go Australia, this is the only first step on a long way … we're on the right track this is good.'
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Miners, Flight Centre drag ASX 200 lower
Weaker than expected earnings from Rio Tinto, troubles travelling to the US and tariffs starting to impact listed businesses, all dragged on the ASX during Thursday's trading. On a mixed day on the market, the benchmark ASX 200 on Thursday fell 13.60 points or 0.16 per cent to close the month of July at 8,742.80. The broader All Ordinaries also slipped down 16.40 points or 0.18 per cent to 8,999.00. Australia's dollar traded 0.26 per cent higher to 64.63 US cents. While the overall market dropped, eight of the 11 sectors traded higher, with gains out of the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors offset by the major miners slumping. Technology and consumer discretionary stocks led the gains. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia The falls followed Rio Tinto announcing its earnings update after trading on Wednesday, informing the market that first half profits came in at their lowest point since 2020, on the back of falling iron ore prices. BHP fell 2.41 per cent to $39.25, Rio Tinto slumped 3.55 per cent to $111.70 and Fortescue slipped 2.31 per cent to $17.77. IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said even with Thursday's wobbles, July's reputation of being a good month for Australian investors continued in 2025. 'As it enters the home straight, it is poised for a 2.35 per cent gain for the month and on track for a fourth straight month of gains made more memorable by its 1580 points (22 per cent) rally from its early April 7169.2 low,' he wrote in an investment note. Consumer discretionary shares jumped after 11.30am after a surprising bounce in retail sales. Shares in JB Hi-Fi were up 1.30 per cent to 411.70, Harvey Norman gained 1.05 per cent to $5.80 and Lovisa Holdings jumped 2.15 per cent to $34.14 on the retail figures. According to the ABS retail sales gained 1.2 per cent for the month of June, its biggest lift since the end of the Covid lockdowns. AMP economist My Bui said June's retail strength, which came off the back of end of financial year sales and the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, might not be a sign of a strong economy. Despite the falls, eight of the 11 sectors gained on Thursday. NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers Credit: News Corp Australia 'In addition, the strong June result has benefited from one-off releases and promotions, which is not necessarily a sign of strength,' she said. Overall though, Australia's market was unable to follow a jump on Wall Street, with the S & P 500 futures up more than 1 per cent on the back of major tech companies beating expectations. Microsoft futures are up 8 per cent and Meta surged 11 per cent as the two tech giants smashed quarterly earnings forecasts. In company news, shares in Flight Centre slumped 7.3 per cent to $11.94 after the business missed its guidance. The travel group said a combination of Middle East tensions, additional costs out of Asia and difficult travel conditions in the US added to the unexpected result. Champion Iron slumped 13.12 per cent to $4.17 after brokers downgraded the miner following a weaker-than expected trading update on Wednesday. Luxury retailer Cettire shares plunged 23.5 per cent to $0.26 after the business said it was accessing the impacts of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on the business. Shipments to the United States represent approximately 40 per cent of Cettire's gross revenue.
