A Dutton Coalition Government will reform the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to drive home ownership following years of neglect under Labor.
Labor’s financial system is locking too many Australians out of home ownership—not because they can’t afford a mortgage, but because the rules are too inflexible.
We will make it clear that APRA must consider the impact of its rules on access to housing—particularly for first-home buyers.
That means reducing the overly cautious serviceability buffer, which was introduced when rates were near zero but remains unchanged even as the cash rate sits above four per cent.
This one-size-fits-all rule is stopping tens of thousands of Australians from getting a home loan—even when they can meet the repayments with a prudent margin against unexpected future rates rises.
That’s not good regulation. It’s a barrier to aspiration.
A Dutton Coalition Government will also require APRA, through the Statement of Expectations, to adjust the capital treatment of loans backed by Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
Right now, Australians without access to the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ are punished by higher borrowing costs—even when the actual risk is the same or lower.
That’s a systemic bias in favour of inherited wealth. We will remove it.
This is not about compromising stability or independence. APRA’s core mandate remains.
But the Statement of Expectations is the government’s tool to ensure the regulator also supports broader economic objectives—like home ownership and fair access to finance.
A Coalition Government will use that tool. Because we believe the financial system should enable aspiration—not entrench inequality.
Under Labor, housing will never be a priority, maintaining mortgage and rental repayments has never been more difficult, and home ownership has never been further out of reach.
These reforms are just part of the Coalition’s ambitious plan to get Australians into homes of their own. A Dutton Coalition Government will:
• Boost housing supply to alleviate the shortages that have shut new buyers out of the market.
• Fund essential infrastructure like water, power and sewerage at housing development sites.
• Fight inflation to take pressure off interest rates and rents.
• Reduce migration to sensible levels that our housing supply can handle.
• Implement a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes in Australia.
• Support first home buyers and older women to overcome the prohibitive challenge of saving for a home deposit by allowing superannuation savings to be used to help build their deposit.
• Address supply chain constraints and invest in skills development.
• Ensure we have an adequate number of skilled visas for those in the construction sector to support our capable local workforce.
• Cut red and green tape to allow builders to get on with the job of building more homes, including freezing further changes to the National Construction Code.
• Restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission to tackle union corruption that has contributed to driving up building costs by up to 30 per cent.
• Maintain the Home Guarantee Scheme, a former Coalition Government initiative to help first home buyers save for a deposit.
Only a Coalition government will get our country back on track.