Last-Ditch Property Pledge May Not Be Enough to Save Australia’s PM

PHOTO: Scott Morrison Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a last-ditch bid to boost his stalling election campaign with a pledge to help Australians get on the property ladder, as a new opinion poll showed his government remains on track to lose Saturday’s vote.

Morrison will offer guarantees for first-home buyers, meaning they only have to save 5% of the purchase price as a deposit instead of the 20% typically demanded by banks. With many young Australians priced out of the market by a five-year housing boom, the issue has been pivotal during the election campaign.

The new policy may not be enough, however, to engineer a come-from-behind victory. Morrison’s conservative government trails the left-leaning Labor party 49% to 51%, according to a Newspoll published by the Australian newspaper on Monday. Should that margin be replicated at the ballot boxes, Labor will win power for the first time in six years.