Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I talk to people throughout my electorate of Bennelong, one of the most common things I hear is their concern about the cost of housing. Locals are worried about renting and about transitioning from rental homes to homeownership, and those who own their own homes are worried about where their kids will live. Locals are facing growing rents. They're priced out of the housing market due to high prices.

That is why it is so critical to have an ambitious and strong housing reform agenda. We know that the market is failing to provide affordable rental properties and affordable homes to buy. The Albanese Labor government knows that having a safe and affordable place to call home is central to the security and dignity of Australians, and that's why this bill, the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, and the associated bills are so important.

Before coming to this place I had the great pleasure of serving my community as a councillor for 10 years, five of which I was mayor. Those issues I outlined before were present back then as well. The lack of affordable housing not only in the city of Ryde, which forms part of Bennelong, but also right across metropolitan cities and across the country is at crisis point. It was then and it continues to be now. The housing market continues to fail households, especially those on very low, low and moderate incomes.

In 2011, 7,450 key worker households in Ryde were in need of affordable priced housing. It's estimated that by 2031 the Ryde LGA will need 10,700 affordable housing dwellings for key workers. In my time there we put together a clear vision for affordable housing. We did the work and we lodged the planning proposal to deliver these much-needed homes. More than three years after we submitted this important work, this planning proposal—the first of its kind in New South Wales— to the state government, the Liberals refused it. They even had the gall to say the planning proposal was ahead of its time. Well, when is the time? When is the time to deliver on affordable housing?

I'm not surprised the Liberals are opposing these bills today because they always oppose efforts to increase affordable housing. When former Premier Berejiklian, in New South Wales, became Premier she said affordable housing was 'the biggest issue'. Then, years later, they knocked back real and tangible efforts by the council I led to deliver that affordable housing. You hear in their speeches here today—I've been here for the last 20 minutes—that they all say they love affordable housing and they want to work to deliver it, but when the rubber hits the road, when the policy hits their desks, they vote against it. It's in their DNA to oppose affordable housing, so I'm not surprised they're here today coming up with all sorts of reasons to oppose it.

But I am surprised about the wild and outrageous criticisms from the Greens on this critical legislation. Again, we see the far right and the far left coming together to oppose a policy that Australians voted for. I say to the Greens, led by the member for Griffith—and to all his comrades who seem to be taking his lead—that the opportunities presented by these bills are too great to play politics with. These bills are a policy that was taken to the 2022 election—one that Australians voted for and that will establish the much-needed step of a housing future fund. It'll create a source of funds in perpetuity for social and affordable housing to be built. It has the potential to deliver 30,000 new social and affordable homes back into this community. Further, it will address the acute housing needs of our most vulnerable communities and provide $200 million for the improvement of housing in Indigenous communities, $100 million for housing options for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence, and a further $30 million for veterans.

If the Greens join with the Liberals and vote down these bills, they will be hurting those in our community who need them most. If the Greens join with the Liberals to vote down these bills, they will be stopping the federal government from taking a much-needed leadership role in the provision of affordable housing. I know from experience that one level of government cannot do this alone; you need all levels of government working together. This is the opportunity for the federal government to finally take a lead on the delivery of social and affordable housing. As a council we had the most ambitious affordable housing proposal in New South Wales, and the Liberals knocked it back.

We haven't had a federal government that cares about social and affordable housing for a long, long time. Everyone in this place needs to back this bill so that finally we can get that leadership started, because every level of government needs to be involved. There's nothing more important than a safe, affordable place to call home. To those in this place, particularly the Greens: don't put that at risk; stop the baseless and shallow attacks and work with the government to make housing in this country more affordable and more accessible.

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