Australia's birth rate is at a historic low. Canberra can't fix this alone. Jane Foreman says the Allan government has the tools to act — and is choosing not to use them.
Victoria controls planning and zoning, stamp duty, payroll tax, and billions in housing infrastructure spending. These are the mechanisms that determine whether a young Victorian family can afford a home and whether families feel supported or judged by their government. The Allan government holds these levers and is choosing not to pull them.
"The Allan government cannot blame Canberra for stamp duty. It cannot blame Canberra for planning rules that lock young families out of affordable land. It cannot blame Canberra for payroll tax settings that drive up costs for family businesses. These are Victorian levers. The question is why this government refuses to pull them in favour of families."
Australia's total fertility rate has fallen to 1.50 births per woman — the lowest on record, well below the 2.1 replacement rate. Victoria mirrors that trend. And many of the barriers facing Victorian families sit squarely within state jurisdiction. Stamp duty adds tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a family home. Planning restrictions push up prices. And payroll tax hits successful family businesses seeking to expand and capitalise on that success.
Family First's Jane Foreman will apply one test to every Victorian policy: does this make it easier or harder to raise a family in this state?
Stamp duty reform to remove the tax penalty on families upsizing into a home with room for children. Planning reform to unlock greenfield land on the urban fringe and cut the developer levies that inflate new home prices. Payroll tax relief for medium sized family businesses — the future of Victorian communities — so that family enterprise can continue to grow without being taxed into stagnation. And a maternal and child health system that supports mothers who choose to care for their children at home in the early years.
"The state government is not powerless here — it is choosing not to act. Family First will use every lever available at the state level to make Victoria a place where families can afford to form, grow, and thrive."
"Strong families make strong communities, and strong communities make a strong Victoria. That is not a slogan. It is a truth that every generation before us understood and acted on. Our generation must rediscover it. And I genuinely believe we can — if we have the courage to put families back at the centre of everything we do."
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