Michael Sukkar MP

Interview with Tom Elliott – 3AW Mornings

SHADOW MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, NDIS, HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS AND MANAGER OF OPPOSITION BUSINESS

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH TOM ELLIOTT – 3AW MORNINGS

Wednesday 29 January, 2025

TOPICS: Voters back Dutton pledge to block foreign investors buying Australian homes

E&OE

Tom Elliott: Michael Sukkar, good morning.

Michael Sukkar: Good to be with you, Tom.

Tom Elliott: Well, tell us what the policy is – so if I’m Mr. Wong in Beijing and I sort of feel like I’d like to own an Australian House, under your policy, I simply wouldn’t be allowed to do it?

Michael Sukkar: Yeah, precisely. And the example you just used, Tom, in relation to, you know, a wealthy foreign individual with a son or daughter studying here and purchasing the home which they’re entitled to at the moment, that will no longer be allowed. So in essence, if you’re a foreign resident or a temporary resident, including that example of being a student, under our policy you won’t be entitled to buy an established property in Australia. And I think most Australians understand that, you know, you or I, Tom, probably can’t wander into most countries and just buy established real estate and it’s been a glaring gap in our system for a while. So Peter Dutton in his budget in reply, announced that we would make those changes because established Australian properties are there to house Australians and not to be a place where foreign individuals park, you know, park their wealth.

Tom Elliott: You said established a couple of times. Does that mean if there’s a new property development going on that foreigners can buy those? They could help pay the money that gets the apartment block built?

Michael Sukkar: Yeah, we’re not proposing to change the rules in relation to brand new properties because the reality is that foreign investment does help additional stocks come on the market. For example, if you’ve got a project that needs 75 per cent presales, you basically need every pre-sale possible to get that project started. And what that does is it increases the amount of housing stock for Australians. So we’re not proposing to change that. What we’re proposing a change to is typical established Australian home in a suburban street or an established apartment. No longer will Australians be competing against foreign or temporary residents when they’re trying to buy one of those.

Tom Elliott: What about the apartments built on the northern side of the Melbourne CBD, which are aimed at students, you know, primarily RMIT, Melbourne, Uni, that sort of thing. So if you’re a Chinese student, and you come here and there’s a ten year old apartment building. Under your policy, would they be allowed to buy one of those apartments?

Michael Sukkar: No, no. I mean, you know, when I went to uni Tom, I don’t think I had any friends at uni who own their own home. So, you know, students, foreign students who are here are welcome to rent a property of an Australian, as any Australian would if they were studying overseas. So no, they won’t be entitled to buy property because that property is there for Australians and we, we’re not apologetic about it. We think it’s an overdue policy change and we’re quite shocked that the Labor Party is opposing it. And just as early as today they recommitted their opposition to our policy. It seems bizarre.

Tom Elliott: So just so I’m clear, under the current rules, as I mentioned, I mean, students who come here can buy a house study for three years and have to sell a house. You’re saying that will change under a government that you’re part of. But are there other ways for foreigners to buy in on property here at the moment, residential established properties?

Michael Sukkar: Well, the truth is I have very little faith in a lot of the official data because of the exact example that you used earlier on. The rules do often state that if you’re here on a temporary visa, for example, you can own a property for the duration of that temporary visa. But I’m speaking to people in the industry – there are examples upon examples where those those subsequent sales never seem to happen. There always seems to be a way in which that property is retained. Now, I suspect a lot of that is because of a lack of enforcement, but under our policy those homes will never be purchased by foreigners to begin with.

Tom Elliott: And will you crack down on existing and potentially illegal ownership of Australian homes, like, for example, someone who is here on a temporary visa and has left but still owns a house?

Michael Sukkar: Absolutely. When I was formerly Housing minister and previous to that Assistant Minister of the Treasurer, we we did give the ATO huge amounts of resources to actually start enforcing the rules that were there, because as Victorians know, with the crime wave we’re seeing, if you have laws on the books but nobody there to actually police them, it doesn’t work. So what we’ve seen under this government is that policing role of the ATO has been diminished. It’s not happening. And again, my preference is, is that those homes are never purchased by foreigners to begin with because they should be homes that are there for Australians. And that’s what Peter Dutton has outlined to Australians and we’ll take to the next election.

Tom Elliott: So if you’re elected and you pass this law, do you think it will reduce pressure on the property market? Like will we notice a drop in prices in some areas?

Michael Sukkar: Look, I mean, I think a number of measures need to be put in place to make a material difference on our market. I don’t think any one measure is going to be a silver bullet. But the truth is we do have homes at the moment that are owned by foreign and temporary foreign residents and they by definition are not there and not available for Australians. And we’ve seen rents under this government go up by 25%, we’ve seen the number of homes being built down, the number of homes approved down. We’ve seen affordability get to its worst levels ever. So I think we have to pull every single lever possible. This will be one of a suite of measures we put in place to improve affordability and to get more Australians into their own homes.

Tom Elliott: And if my rapidly fading memory is correct, is this policy what I think New Zealand and Canada have both done in the past few years?

Michael Sukkar: There have been a number of jurisdictions that have done it. Yes, with varying differences. And as I said at the outset, Tom, this is not a particularly novel policy. Most countries around the world do not let foreigners just wander in and buy property. So, this is not an unusual position. What is most unusual is that labor seems very wedded to this current status quo of foreigners and temporary residents owning Australian properties. We will change it. They have made very clear that they will maintain the status quo. I think it’s quite bizarre that they’ve taken that position. But I think Australians, as you highlighted and as the Sydney Morning Herald highlighted this morning, Australians are absolutely in support of Peter Dutton’s position on this and we will take it to the election with that confidence.

Tom Elliott: All right, thank you for your time. And you’re right, it’s very rare to see particularly a Coalition policy that voters of all persuasions on average support. But as I said to all voters, 69% support it. Labor voters 60% support it, Green voters, 58% support it voters in marginal seats. And this is a key one because marginal seats where elections are won and lost 73% support the Coalition’s policy here. So it’s a winner.

ENDS