VICTORIA HAS THE POWER TO BACK FAMILIES. THE ALLAN GOVERNMENT IS CHOOSING NOT TO USE IT
Family First Party
Jane Foreman - Family First Legislative Council Candidate
Key Facts:
KEY FACTS:
•Australia’s total fertility rate fell to 1.50 births per woman in 2023 — the lowest on record and well below the 2.1 replacement rate. Victoria mirrors the national trend.
•Victoria’s stamp duty is among the highest in the nation and directly inflates the cost of a family home. Family First will pursue stamp duty reform, including exemptions or concessions for families purchasing a principal place of residence.
•Victoria’s payroll tax catches medium sized family businesses at the moment they try to grow — hiring an additional one or two employees and suddenly facing a liability that makes expansion unviable. Family First will raise the threshold and introduce a family business concession so that medium sized enterprises are not penalised for taking on staff.
•Victoria’s planning system — including restrictive zoning, excessive developer levies, and slow approval processes — is a primary driver of unaffordable housing. Family First will reform planning rules to unlock land supply, cut state-imposed building levies, and restore the prospect of a family home on one income.
•Family First will review the full scope of state taxes and levies — including stamp duty, payroll tax, and developer charges — through a family impact lens, asking of each: does this make it harder for a Victorian family to own a home, run a business, or raise children? Any tax that fails that test is a candidate for reform.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
28 June 2026
VICTORIA HAS THE POWER TO BACK FAMILIES. THE ALLAN GOVERNMENT IS CHOOSING NOT TO USE IT
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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About us:
About Family First
Family First exists to restore Australia by restoring the primacy of the family in public policy. This will be achieved through a grass roots political party which raises courageous voices in our nation’s parliaments. More details are available on our website: https://www.familyfirstparty.org.au/
