Billie said:

"A swiss miss of my acquaintance was shocked at the impermanence of Australia. Her husbands family had lived in the same farmhouse for 600 years and often Australian homes are falling down after 50 years. Australian buildings appear to be designed for a 25 year life."

One of the biggest reasons is termites. In Europe there are less than 10 species of termites, whereas in Australia there are at least 360 described species. In Europe it is not uncommon to see wooden buildings over half a millenium old. It is largely because they are not devoured by insects so quickly..

So, while the Swiss do have high standards when it comes to building, it is not the only reason why their buildings last and ours do not..

Where I live in Sydney there are 19th century terraces and federation era homes that are as strong as the day they were built.
Built with pride, in double brick with high moulded ceilings, iron lace, leadlight windows, they were adapted to the location & built to last. Comparable places exist elsewhere in Australia. They weren't merely the preseve of the rich, they were commonplace & they still are to some extent.

Many of the homes built in the last 50 years have a use-by-date because they are rapidly assembled, semi pre-fab, generic, gyprock & aluminium tack (with or without termites).
.

The build-em-quick technolgy prevailed, quality & standards declined.
The social & commercial priorities have shifted, Buildings were better when the housing industry adapted itself to the community's requirements. Currently the reverse is somewhat the case.

As 'TINMAN' said earlier:
"They and the Banks would fight tooth and nail against any move to make us more like the Swiss"
They already have.

Previous generations made homes that were built to last indefinitely & there is no material reason why we can't.
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What's more the First Home Buyer's Grant is a tiny fraction of the increase in the median house-price since 2000 (when the grant was introduced).
There are far greater "demand swelling incentives" in our system & they don't serve the interests of first-home buyers