Morrison surveys Sydney 'field of dreams' By Daniel Mcculloch May 13, 2019 Scott Morrison stepped onto the porch of a half-built house and surveyed his field of dreams. A squeaking, spluttering truck pumped concrete onto a block next door. Rows upon rows of display homes appeared on the horizon. A little further afield, painters and plasterers shuffled around as tradies teetered atop scaffolding. The prime minister was in western Sydney, in the marginal Labor seat of Lindsay, to talk up his plans for a first home buyer deposit scheme ahead of the May 18 election. "This is the dream," he told a young couple of their efforts to get into the market. "This is the field of dreams." A re-elected coalition government would offer loan guarantees for first home buyers, allowing them to buy properties with deposits of just five per cent compared to the norm of about 20 per cent. Mr Morrison is initially offering 10,000 loan guarantees, to be targeted at singles earning up to $125,000 and couples on a combined income of $200,000.
Labor maintains narrow lead over Coalition: Newspoll 13/05/2019 The latest Newspoll indicates the race to Saturday's poll remains a close struggle, with Labor maintaining its lead of 51 per cent to the Liberal's 49 per cent on two-party preferred. Both major parties saw increases in the primary vote, with the Liberal Party leading Labor 39 to 37 per cent. Minor parties saw less action compared to previous weeks, with the Greens remaining static at nine per cent, and One Nation dropping one to four per cent, with Clive Palmer's United Australia Party on par at four per cent. Opposition leader Bill Shorten crept up three points in the preferred Prime Minister stakes but is still trailing Scott Morrison 38 to 45 per cent. |