Housing and health care prominent issues in Pearce this election

HOUSING and access to health care are two issues important to Pearce voters in the federal 2025 election campaign with election day tomorrow Saturday, May 3.

Recently Liberal candidate for Pearce Jan Norberger said Pearce had the unfortunate title of being the most financially strained electorate in Western Australia because of mortgage, rental and financial stresses.

In Household budgets and Labor’s re-election hinge on Reserve Bank interest rate decision, ABC, February 17 it was reported that Pearce had more than 50 per cent of households with a mortgage making it the most indebted electorate in the country.

But more recent CoreLogic data about housing affordability across the nation’s federal electorates published on April 29 shows no WA electorates are represented in the top 20 list of most unaffordable federal electorates to buy a home, which is positive news for Labor and incumbent Pearce MHR Tracey Roberts.

The CoreLogic data also showed Pearce’s neighbouring electorate Durack – which includes the Shire of Gingin – held by Liberal Melissa Price was one of  two WA electorates to make the top 20 list of most affordable federal electorates to buy a home.

Mr Norberger said a senior family in Eglinton had told him if they faced one more rental increase they were probably going to end up living in their car.

In some potentially good news for those looking to rent a property in Pearce, REIWA on April 17 said they had seen a strong increase in rental supply, particularly in outlying areas, such as Eglinton, Alkimos and Yanchep, where investors had purchased house and land packages.

Mrs Roberts said housing and the cost of renting had not been raised with her in her electorate during the campaign but it was one of the fastest and largest growing areas in Australia and a lot of vacant land had been developed.

She also mentioned the Albanese government’s commitment to give all first homebuyers access to 5 per cent deposits.

In How do the Coalition and Labor plans on housing differ – and what have they ignored?, The Conversation, April 29 UNSW Sydney housing research and policy professor and City Futures Research Centre associate director Hal Pawson wrote that the 5 per cent deposits measure could have some inflationary impact.

“But given the modest nature of the assistance provided, and that it only expands the existing home guarantee scheme maximum annual quota of 50,000 to an expected take-up of around 80,000, this is likely to be limited,’’ he said.

Professor Pawson said the Albanese build to sell pledge could see collaboration with state and territory governments to commission 100,000 new homes in eight years although much about the build to sell plan was still to be revealed.

“But from what we know, it looks like a bold initiative in challenging conventional modern thinking about the proper limits of direct state involvement in supplying a commodity largely provided through the market,’’ he said.

“By expanding overall housing production, it could help in slightly moderating prices market-wide, as well as benefiting the homebuyers directly involved.’’

Among the biggest ticket item pledged by the Coalition was the $5 billion national program for enabling infrastructure to unlock up to 500,000 new homes.

Professor Pawson said the lack of detail about the infrastructure announcement and its potential impact had generated some scepticism.

Mr Norberger said it would target head works such as sewerage or underground power projects that were shovel ready.

He also said if elected the Liberals would ban foreign investors or foreign buyers of established homes in Australia for two years so Australians were not competing with foreign buyers.

Professor Pawson said also announced ahead of the campaign was the Coalition’s plan to allow first home buyers to draw down on their superannuation – they would be able to withdraw up to $50,000 to help fund mortgage deposits.

He said the proposal attracted some qualified support but had been rejected by most of Australia top economists with concerns the measure could prove highly inflationary.

“It also risks a net loss for scheme participants if devalued retirement savings outweigh the benefit of accelerated access to home ownership,” he said.

Mr Norberger said the senior Eglinton family urgently needed any kind of relief, but in their case income tax relief was not going to benefit them.

“But do they have a car? he said.

“Yes, they have a car. Do they have to fill up? Yeah, they do.’’

He said the Liberals promised fuel rebate would benefit them.

“If you’ve got a two-car family and you’re filling up once a week, you’re going to save about $1500.’’

In his Budget reply, federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton said if elected his government would halve the fuel excise for 12 months and then it would be reviewed.

Mr Dutton said for a household with one car filling-up once a week, that would be a saving of $14 a week on average – or about $700 over 12 months with the policy to cost $6 billion.

He said this was better than 70 cents a day in 15 months’ time in reference to the Albanese Government’s cost‑of‑living tax cuts, which passed the House of Representatives on February 15, but won’t come into effect until July 1 next year.

On February 27 – the day the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024 passed the Senate, which the Coalition has vowed to repeal if elected – Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the legislation meant all 13.6 million taxpayers would receive a tax cut – 2.9 million more than would have benefited from Scott Morrison’s plan from five years ago – and 11.5 million taxpayers (84 per cent of taxpayers) would receive a bigger tax cut.

“It means that 5.8 million women (90 per cent of female taxpayers) will now receive a bigger tax cut,’’ he said.

“Nurses, teachers, and truckies are some of the most likely to benefit with more than 95 per cent of those taxpayers getting a bigger tax cut.’’

Both Mrs Robert and Mr Norberger said health care in the area was a hot topic.

In New hospital for North Wanneroo in maybe five years, September 19, 2019 Yanchep News Online reported then state Health minister Roger Cook’s saying at a health forum for Wanneroo and Joondalup residents that a new hospital would be built in North Wanneroo sometime in the next five years.

Mr Cook’s comment was in response to a question by Two Rocks Yanchep Residents Association secretary Lorraine Jackson.

When Mrs Jackson asked Mr Cook what discussions were being had about a hospital in the Eglinton-Alkimos-Yanchep area he said there was no timeline but certainly in the next five years with the decision to be driven by population growth in the area.

The Albanese government has already committed to opening a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Yanchep if re-elected.

Mrs Roberts said they had been talking to now Premier Roger Cook and his ministers about a hospital for Yanchep but apparently they don’t think it is quite the right time.

She said it took a long time to plan for and build a hospital.

On March 2 Mr Dutton said if elected a Coalition government would kick start the process for a new hospital in Yanchep by committing up to $1 million to fund a comprehensive business case.

He said Wanneroo was one of the fastest growing areas in Australia, but access to health services had gone backwards under the state and federal Labor governments.

Mr Norberger said the hospital should at least be a district hospital with an emergency department that also benefited everyone in Pearce, because it would take pressure off Joondalup hospital.

“So if you’re living in Wanneroo or Carramar it’ll take pressure off Joondalup,” he said.

“But then for people living in the northern parts of Pearce, it gives them the health services that they need.’’

• The ABC used census electorate data from 2021– the next census won’t be until 2026.
• According to CoreLogic the median value for homes in Pearce was $784,569.
• According to CoreLogic the median value for homes in Durack was $489,617.
• The housing affordability across the nation’s federal electorates data source: CoreLogic, ANU Centre for Social Research & Methods – values current to March 2025 and affordability metrics current to December 2024.