Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We know the urgency of getting more social housing stock. And as the vote in the Senate today shows, with the Greens, the Liberals and the Nationals combining to block the passage of our $10 billion housing fund, we just can't wait for them to act in the best interests of the country. So, we're delivering. We're not waiting for them. We're delivering more than $610 million to New South Wales to immediately begin boosting social housing stock. This is part of the $2 billion social housing fund accelerator payment, with the funds coming to New South Wales and all the other states within the next two weeks. We're able to do it because we brought down a responsible budget, and we're not prepared to stop working on tackling this very important issue.

New South Wales will have flexibility in how they permanently boost social housing stock, including through new builds, expansion of existing programs, and renovation or refurbishment of existing but currently uninhabitable housing stock. It means that people who are on social housing waiting lists will have a shorter wait as we increase that housing supply sooner, and all the funds will need to be expended within two years. We know Australians want practical solutions. To date in this financial year we've invested $9.5 billion to provide practical solutions to increase housing supply.

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