The key political policies compared for mortgage brokers

The Federal Election is this month and in preparation, we've done the hard work for you. We’ve broken down the key policies that matter to you and your clients.

We've covered what both major parties will do to help home buyers, their plans on taxes and how they'll help small businesses.

Home Buyers

Home buyers, in cities and regional areas are a big focus for the Liberal and Labor party.

Liberal

The Liberal Party will increase the number of first home buyer guarantees each year to 35,000, along with increasing the property price cap.

There will be 10,000 guarantees for regional buyers of new-build homes, whether buyers already live there or are moving to a regional area. This also includes non-first home buyers and permanent residents.

Single parents can access a guarantee with a deposit as low as 2%.

If re-elected, Liberal will also introduce their Super Home Buying Scheme, which allows first home buyers to use up to 40% of their superannuation, up to $50,000 when buying a home.

If the home is sold, the invested amount will need to be returned to their superannuation fund. There is no cap on the amount of first home buyers who can use the scheme.

Labor

Labor have created their own scheme, called ‘Help to Buy’ which isn’t restricted to first home buyers like the Liberal policy. Eligible buyers will only need a 2% deposit and won't have to pay lenders mortgage insurance.

If elected the Labor party will take an equity stake of up to 40% in the home which they will then get back in capital gains when the house is sold. The owner must live in the home for two years and property price caps are also in place.

Labor will introduce their ‘Regional First Home Buyers Support Scheme’ for 10,000 first home buyers a year in regional areas. Their policy doesn’t require the home to be a new-build, and existing houses, townhouses and units will be included in the scheme

They will also look at improving the overall first home buyers scheme, declaring they’ll update property price caps every six months and be more efficient at reallocating unused guarantees to those who will use them.

Small Businesses

Liberal

The Liberal’s focus is to provide new support for small businesses to upskill employees and embrace more digital products.

If re-elected, businesses will be able to claim up to a 20% bonus tax deduction on investing in new technology (up to $100,000 per year) – such as cyber security and web design.

The Liberal Party will also implement an expanded Instant Asset Write Off policy, where eligible businesses can write off the full value of eligible assets purchased to 30 June 2023.

Labor

The Labor party claims eight out of 10 small businesses find government regulation complex, so they are focusing on collaboration between government and small businesses. They want small businesses spending less time doing taxes and paperwork.

Labor said they want to maximise the amount that small businesses receive from the Commonwealth Procurement. The Commonwealth has a $190 billion purchasing power to support small businesses and grow the economy.

They have also stated that if elected, they will provide more clarity for small businesses in times of crisis (bushfires, floods, pandemic).

Taxes

Liberal

The Liberal Party have stated their focus is delivering lower taxes, to back small businesses and help them grow. If re-elected, the Liberal Party have declared they will implement no new taxes on housing, small businesses, and Australian workers.

The Liberal Party will also address the cost of living by providing low- and middle-income earners up to $1,500 from 1 July, which includes a one-off $420 cost of living offset, and temporarily halving fuel excise, saving drivers 22.1 cents a litre at petrol stations.

Labor

Labor have stated they will not increase taxes and have no proposal to do so. Just as they stated for small businesses, they’re looking to provide more clarity on tax to families, with a key goal to make sure Australia has an economy that helps working families.

If elected, the Labor Party have pledged to deliver tax relief for more than 9 million Australians through tax cuts that benefit everyone with incomes above $45,000.

They will address cost-of-living relief for Australians through an increase in the low-and-middle income tax offset by $420 this year.

What brokers should do before the election

While we have only covered three different categories for the two major parties that could affect mortgage brokers, there's plenty more that you should be aware of for your businesses and clients.

Ahead of the election on 21 May, we encourage you to have a deeper look into the policies that both Liberal and Labor have tabled.

For a full list from the Liberal party, you can head to their website here.

For a full list of what Labor will look to implement if elected, you can head to their website here.

Everything in this article is correct as of May 16 2022.