Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

Our policy is to release excess Commonwealth land. The states have been writing to the Commonwealth about some of these parcels of Commonwealth land for years, asking, ‘Please can we buy this land?’ They have not even had the courtesy of a reply from the previous government. We also have our National Housing Supply Research Council, our $150 million policy to build more homes for the homeless and our First Home Saver Accounts.

The Treasurer and I last week released our discussion paper on the First Home Saver Accounts. These new accounts will help hundreds of thousands of young Australians to save a deposit for their first home. We know how important savings are. The previous government obviously had no interest in increasing national savings. We know how important it is to save a deposit for the first home. The total proportion borrowed to buy the home will lessen, mortgage repayments will lessen and mortgage insurance will lessen. First Home Saver Accounts will see the government invest $850 million over their first four years of operation to help first home buyers save a bigger deposit for their first home. I understand better than anyone that housing affordability is a complex problem. There is no silver bullet solution.

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