The Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is campaigning in Victoria where he must improve the Coalition's recent lacklustre results if he wants to win government.
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00:00Peter Dutton's campaign bus is on the move.
00:04What we expect will be a whirlwind tour of a number of Melbourne seats in a state where the opposition leader is hoping it can gain a lot of ground.
00:11And once again, housing is going to be at the top of the agenda.
00:15With the Liberal Party speaking to talk to both ends of the housing market, their policy is clearly targeted at first homebuyers or would-be first homebuyers trying to get a leg on the property ladder.
00:25That's why they're promising to make your mortgage payments, interest payments, tax deductible.
00:31But they're also at the same time talking to people who already own their homes across cities like Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
00:39Peter Dutton acknowledging that he's happy for house prices to steadily increase.
00:42We want a home to be an asset where you can raise a family, where you can use it as security to the bank if you want to start a small business in the back bedroom or the garage.
00:52We want it to be an asset that increases in value as you get toward retirement and that ultimately one day you can leave to your children as an asset that will help them in their lives.
01:02So home ownership is absolutely integral to our culture and to who we are.
01:05That idea of housing as nest egg reflects another important part of the Liberal constituency.
01:11After all, so many Australian voters are homeowners and the idea of house prices falling is likely to be alarming to them.
01:17And that's why that message is there. But it raises the question, what exactly does steady mean?
01:23From Peter Dutton this morning, we heard that it might mean house prices increase in value over time, treating the house as a nest egg as people work towards their retirement.
01:32But from Michael Sukar, the Coalition's housing spokesperson, we also heard that the Coalition would like house prices to grow by less than wages.
01:41More than prices, less than wages. That's a pretty small envelope.
01:45It's an aspiration, of course, both Michael Sukar and Peter Dutton talking about a long-term aspiration for the housing market rather than a specific policy target.
01:53But it's a reminder that as much as we talk about housing affordability as an issue for young Australians, the housing market affects people at all ages and they all have a different stake in that fight.
02:04Expect more questions about this today from both sides, with housing looming as a key focus as we gear towards the second leaders' debate on Wednesday night.