Election Wrap: The week that was – 1 May 2025

Welcome to the fifth and final edition of the Election Wrap update – your weekly round-up of what’s been said, promised and proposed on the campaign trail, and what it means for our members and the housing market.

Final polling results – will they be right?

With days left in the campaign, both parties are making last-ditch efforts to win over voters. In this final week of polling, Labor still holds a lead on a two-party preferred basis:

• Newspoll reports Labor’s lead remained unchanged, 52% to the Coalition’s 48%
• YouGov reports Labor extended its lead again this week, up 0.5% to 53.5% to the Coalition’s 46.5%
• While both Resolve and Roy Morgan report Labor is leading 53% to 47% for the Coalition; Roy Morgan notes their result is actually down 2.5% from last week on account of results from early voting creating a swing to the NLP
• Freshwater had no new data to report at time of publication.

The focus was elsewhere

While the attention this past week was on defence, Medicare and the (nuclear) fall-out of the last leaders’ debate – we thought we’d round out this update with the MFAA’s top five wishes from whichever party forms government next week.

We’ll continue to advocate for:

• Simplifying government-backed homebuyer schemes and partner with the mortgage broking industry to raise awareness of them
• Reviewing prudential settings, including for the serviceability buffer
• Instituting a faster, smoother home loan discharge process
• Continuing to enhance the Consumer Data Right
• Regulatory costs and levies, including for the CSLR, must be proportionate and fit for purpose

Read more in our pre-budget submission and discharge whitepaper.

Resource round-up: What you might’ve missed

We had a great time pondering the promises and policy pitches proposed by each political party – then piecing them together to present them in a way that’s practical for you and your clients. Thank you for reading!

Remember – the legacy of our Election Wrap lives on in the resources we’ve developed for you –

• Comprehensive guide to grants and schemes across Australia
• Case studies to show the impact of a 2.5% serviceability buffer on borrowing capacity
• Difference between a non-compete and a non-solicitation clause
• Understanding the instant asset write-off policy.

Bon appetite!

Happy voting everyone and enjoy the sausage sizzle on polling day. By the way – do they serve caramelised onions with that?