SENATOR DEAN SMITH
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY
SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA
MEDIA RELEASE
17 February 2025
LABOR SEATS WORST AFFECTED BY WA MORTGAGE PAIN
A new survey of mortgage repayment increases in Western Australia since 2022 has revealed Labor-held electorates are bearing the brunt of the housing affordability crisis – confirming this issue is set to play a major role in the upcoming Federal election.
Commissioned by Senator Dean Smith and conducted by the Federal Parliamentary Library, the survey is the first comprehensive geographic analysis of mortgage costs across the state.
It covers the period from March 2022 to September 2024 and examines all 16 Federal electorates in WA, including the newly created seat of Bullwinkel.
The data takes in more than 300 suburbs and towns, revealing the cumulative effect on households of 13 interest rate rises since the election of the Albanese Government, compounded by rising property prices.
The survey found that mortgage repayments have at least doubled in 180 locations across WA since March 2022.
In the metropolitan area, Armadale in the electorate of Burt topped the increase in monthly mortgage repayments at 190.2 percent, while Spalding in Durack experienced the highest monthly growth in regional Western Australia at 153 percent.
Across the 20 worst-impacted areas – homeowners have faced a minimum increase in repayments of 151.3 percent.
15 of these 20 locations are in the Labor-held electorates of Burt, Tangney, Brand, Hasluck, and Cowan.
Balga in Cowan, for example, recorded a 153.7 percent increase, Dayton in Hasluck recorded a 162.0 percent increase, and Shelley in Tangney saw mortgage repayments rise by 181.3 percent, confirming it as one of WA’s hardest-hit suburbs.
Two other suburbs in the top 20, Maida Vale and Kelmscott, are in the new Federal electorate of Bullwinkle, where Labor has a small notional majority.
The full impact on the monthly budgets of WA households is best appreciated by looking at the dollar amount.
In Kelmscott, mortgage repayments have surged by $1,848 per month, rising from $1,222 to $3,069.
The research is proof of Labor’s economic mismanagement and policy failures, including fuelling homegrown inflation and housing shortages, and their direct impact on mortgage holders in Western Australia.
Critically, the biggest mortgage repayment increases have occurred in Labor electorates – proving that the Albanese’s Government is hurting its own constituents the most.
Labor is now out of time to address this crisis and affected Western Australians will soon hold Anthony Albanese, Jim Chalmers and their local Parliamentarians accountable at the ballot box.
Comments attributable to Senator Dean Smith:
“Labor’s cost-of-living crisis has hit Western Australians hard – from their shopping baskets to their energy bills – but housing affordability is one of the most drastic examples of the toll the Albanese Government has taken.”
“This data leaves no doubt about why household budgets are under massive pressure in WA, with locals having to make unimaginable choices about what to go without to keep a roof over their heads.”
“The largest rises in mortgage repayments have occurred in Labor electorates, demonstrating how the Albanese Government is negatively impacting its own constituents, who it promised life would be better with it in power.”
“Now it is Labor that must pay the price – because, as we approach the Federal election, Western Australians are looking for a better standard of living and only the Coalition has a plan to deliver that.”
ENDS