Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

You can tell a lot about a government by where it spends its money. Spending is a reflection of priorities—what is deemed important and what will be kicked down the road. Two hundred and fifty-four billion dollars on the stage 3 tax cuts for Australia's richest is this government's priority. Three-hundred and sixty-eight billion dollars on nuclear submarines is a Labor priority. And capping social and affordable housing funding to $500 million a year is Labor kicking the housing crisis down the road.

We are constantly told by this Labor government that we need to exhibit restraint—an argument that conveniently doesn't apply to submarines or to the $9,000 tax cuts they're giving to the wealthy but only applies when the working and middle classes ask for the bare minimum. The fact is that we can afford an annual $5 billion investment directly into social and affordable housing over 10 years. We can afford to double Commonwealth rent assistance as rents continue to skyrocket. And we can afford to make sure that all new social housing is built to minimum accessibility standards.

There is absolutely no financial barrier to us bringing millions of Australians out of housing stress and out of homelessness. The Greens, the CFMEU, the Senate crossbench and millions of Australians are united in their calls for Labor to rethink its priorities and truly tackle the housing crisis. Labor is the only remaining barrier.

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