 More reform, not less ... Finance Minister Linsday Tanner at the National Press Club / Gary Ramage |
THE Federal Government won`t commit to extending higher grants for first-home buyers beyond the end of June.
The boosted grants - part of the Government`s first stimulus package - appear to have prompted a surge in housing finance, according to data released today.
Housing finance figures showed home loans to owner occupiers rose by 3.5 per cent in January. First-time home buyers made up 26.5 per cent of the market.
Last year`s stimulus package doubled the first home buyer grant for established homes to $14,000 and tripled it to $21,000 for newly-built dwellings.
But the higher grants are due to run out on June 30.
"The question of whether that grant should be extended is open for debate in the budget context,`` Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner told the National Press Club in Canberra.
Budget tough
He said it had been "very tough`` to deal with the next Budget, due to be handed down in May, and defended his razor-gang approach during tough economic times and warned of more public service cuts to come.
"In the midst of the most savage global downturn in decades, we don’t need less reform, we need more," he said.
"We can carry waste and inefficiency in government in good times if we choose to. We simply can`t afford it when things are tough. Finding more savings isn`t undermining temporary surges in spending to stimulate the economy. It`s complementary."
He slammed the Coalition`s record on public administration, saying the Rudd Government inherited an inefficient, wasteful and disorganised public sector, The Australian reported.
"Whatever the Liberals` claims to be good economic managers, the record shows they were terrible managers of government," he said.
"From 2001 to 2007, public sector employment grew from 212,000 to 247,000, far outstripping private sector employment growth. Huge sums were wasted on political advertising, Workchoices and dubious grants to private companies.
With The Australian and AAP
