Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks to the member for his question. I don't think it's any secret to anyone in this place that we don't have enough rental properties in this country. Vacancy rates are incredibly low. Rents are far too high. The best response to that combination of challenges is to do what we can to build more stock. I pay tribute to the housing minister for all of her work trying to make sure that we can build more housing stock in this country. There's an important opportunity for this parliament to vote for more social and affordable housing, which is part of the solution here.

We recognise, when there are labour shortages, there are pressures on costs of building materials and other pressures, that it is a difficult time to be building more properties, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be putting in place the kinds of funds that are before the parliament, the kinds of arrangements that I've been talking about and the Minister for Housing has been talking about when it comes to housing supply and the Housing Accord.

We recognise that Australians are under the pump. We recognise that Australian renters are particularly doing it tough in the context of low vacancy rates and unacceptably high rents. The best way to deal with that is to build more properties, and that's what we intend to do.

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