Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Last week when the Treasurer stated in respect to housing affordability that people should just, 'get a good job that pays good money' he was demonstrating just how out of touch he and this government are.

Housing affordability is a very serious concern for many in my community. Not a week goes by when someone does not express to me their concern about whether or not their kids will be able to continue to live in the community in which they grew up or be able to afford a deposit for a home. The statistics bear out that concern. Currently our economy is growing at about 2½ per cent on an annual basis. Wages growth is at about two per cent. Inflation is at about 1.3 per cent, but over the last three years prices in the Sydney housing market have increased by 39 per cent. Over the last year alone, there has been a 15 per cent growth in capital accumulation in the Sydney housing market and there have been similar results in Melbourne. That is why people are concerned about house prices. This explosion of growth in one particular market is of concern. That is why the Governor of the Reserve Bank has described the situation as 'crazy' and that is why the Secretary to the Treasury has described the situation as 'a housing bubble'. And what was the response of the government and the Treasurer? It was to insult people by saying they should get a better job. If you are a teacher, a nurse or a childcare worker, you simply cannot walk into the boss's office and say, 'Pay me more money!' particularly given that many of these workers rely on penalty rates and on overtime payments to earn a liveable wage, to ensure they can earn enough money to pay their mortgage.

What do those opposite want to do to penalty rates and to shift allowances? We all know there are many elements within the Liberal Party who want to cut penalty rates. The last architecture of a scheme to cut penalty rates was none other than John Howard with Work Choices. This government is unwilling to consider reform when it comes to housing affordability. They have said that they will not look at measures to improve housing affordability. They have abolished the Housing Supply Council. Their claims of talking about supply are rubbish—in the context of this government abolishing the very body that was set up to advise government about improving affordability through increasing supply. When it comes to housing affordability, this government is hypercritical and is all at the sea once again.

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