Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I notice those opposite find this very amusing. Those around the country who are experiencing an enormous shortage of affordable rental accommodation at the moment are not finding it amusing at all. It is very tough out there. In our caucus room the other day we dealt with a frightening number of stories of many people participating in auctions to obtain access to rental premises. The impact on working families’ disposable income is huge. The most recent data, published in the Age today, adds to that.

As members, at least on this side of the House, are aware, this problem is not confined to Melbourne; it is right across the country. The Real Estate Institute of Australia reports that rental vacancy rates have now slipped below three per cent in every capital in the country. So it is no wonder that average rents for three-bedroom homes have risen by 82 per cent since 1996. Housing affordability, in all its categories, including rental accommodation, has fallen through the floor over the last decade.

If you look at the ratio between household income and the cost of purchasing a new home on the one hand, and the relationship between household income and the cost of rents on the other hand, you will understand why working families are under so much financial pressure. The Real Estate Institute of Victoria states what is required by way of action. I quote from the CEO of the REIV, Enzo Raimondo, who said about today’s alarming figures:

… it increases the urgency for governments to take action to increase public and private investment in rental stock.

That is precisely the course of action which this government has embarked upon. Rather than ignoring the housing problem, rather than not having a minister for housing, rather than not having a department of housing—which was the case on the part of those who preceded us—and rather than not having a housing policy at all, part of our $1.6 billion-plus programs on housing goes right to creating, over time, 100,000 affordable rental properties, charging, we hope, some 20 per cent below market rents by encouraging private sector investment in this field.

There is an acute shortage of affordable rental stock across the country. We have policy lined up to act in this area. Those opposite were inert on this issue. I say to those opposite: it is important that we see for the first time, as we break for the prebudget recess, one positive policy from the opposition on what to do with the housing affordability crisis which their inaction on inflation and interest rates has left for working Australian families.

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