Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

We're making changes on 1 July to expand the program so that more Australians are eligible. We unlocked immediately the $575 million to build more social and affordable rental homes and, indeed, we have homes under construction today because we made that decision.

In our first budget, we had the National Housing Accord, which includes funding for another 10,000 affordable rentals, to be matched by the states and territories with another 10,000 affordable rentals. In the most recent budget, we committed an additional $2 billion in financing for more social and affordable homes and changes to build-to-rent to get more homes on the ground more quickly. We made changes meaning the largest increase in Commonwealth rental assistance in more than 30 years. We're also delivering more than $1.6 billion in a one-year extension to the housing and homelessness agreement. We've also begun work on a national housing and homelessness plan and our help-to-buy equity scheme.

We have been making progress, but critical to our housing agenda is the Housing Australia Future Fund, a plan for tens of thousands—30,000 in the first five years of the fund—of social and affordable rental homes. We have had some issues in the Senate, and some of those opposite opposed it in this house. We did get one member to cross the floor. I have an interesting letter that I'd like to read to the House from the member for Dawson. The member for Dawson said: 'I understand that housing is a priority of the government's agenda and I'd like to discuss how the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will provide a specialist response to veterans at risk of homelessness, women and children escaping family violence and Indigenous housing in regional Australia.' I'm very happy to have the conversation with the member for Dawson, and I'd say to the member for Dawson that the senators in his party should support it in the Senate. It's all very well to say that you want to access the fund, but you actually have to vote for it.

I also understand there's been a bit of a meeting by some of the others on the other side. The members for Sturt, Menzies and Hughes apparently had a meeting. I thought: 'Maybe they're actually interested in the Housing Australia Future Fund. Perhaps they actually want to get more homes on the ground more quickly.' But, no—it wasn't to be. (Time expired)

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