GST to blame

I AM appalled at the hypocrisy of the Housing Industry Association (Young hit by house boom, 29/7) blaming the three tiers of government for the slump in first home buyers.
   The HIA in 1993 supported the introduction of the Liberals' GST [Goods and Services Tax]. Labor fought and won that election. As former Labor minister Brian Howe said at the time, the HIA should hang its head in shame. When the GST was finally introduced the impact on housing was immediate.
   The Liberals were forced to introduce the first home buyers' grant, effectively negating the GST. The cost of the program became unsustainable under razor-gang Budgets.
   Another impact of the GST was to destroy apprenticeship opportunities in the building industry. A builder told me he simply couldn't afford to pay GST on top of the wages of apprentices who were contracted out by labour hire firms.   GEOFF PAIN, Kelmscott.