New incentive for first home owners to move to regions in Queensland

Premier and Minister for the Arts

The Honourable Anna Bligh

27/05/2010

New incentive for first home owners to move to regions

Premier Anna Bligh has announced a new $11,000 Regional First Home Owners Grant for new build homes.

Ms Bligh said the grants would boost construction jobs in Queensland's regional areas and take population growth pressure off South East Queensland.

The new grant is a $4000 boost to the State Government's existing $7000 First Home Owners Grant and follows on from the Queensland Growth Management Summit in March.

"If we want to effectively manage Queensland's growth it is vital that we actively encourage people to settle outside SEQ," Ms Bligh said.

"Today we are saying that, for the first time, the Queensland Government is providing a grant to encourage people to move to the regions and to stay in the regions.

"By boosting the First Home Owners Grant we show we are committed to finding new ways to manage the huge population growth SEQ has experienced in recent years.

"With a city the size of Mackay moving to the South East each year we simply must look at ways to encourage growth into the other regions to take the pressure off SEQ.

"I believe this grant will be part of enticing first home owners to look outside SEQ and see the wonderful opportunities that exist in the other parts of the state."

The Premier said the government will also develop a population and economic activity led

Queensland Regionalisation Strategy.

A draft of the Queensland Regionalisation Strategy will be developed over the next 18 months for public release with the final strategy due to be completed in 2011.

"As well as consulting in Brisbane our government has been listening to regional Queenslanders on their ideas and feedback about regionalisation via eight regionalisation forums," Ms Bligh said.

Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said these forums were chaired by Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries in major regional centres in early May.

"The message from those regional forums is that we need to assess and prioritise Queensland's regions according to their suitability for increased population growth - according to economic, live ability and sustainability criteria," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"We need to enhance the economic viability and liveability of Queensland's regional centres while ensuring Queensland's population growth is located in areas where it does not negatively impact the region's sustainability and natural environment.

"The Queensland government is tackling the issue of population growth head on.

"We have an enviable lifestyle in Queensland, however we need to have strategies in place to ensure we remain the greatest state in Australia to live and work," he said.