Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Higgins for bringing forward this very important motion, which I'm very happy to support. It doesn't matter where you go on the New South Wales South Coast; the lack of affordable and social housing is at a crisis point. Every week, I hear from more and more people that are homeless or at risk of being homeless. And it doesn't discriminate. Families are at risk. Older people suddenly find themselves with nowhere to live.

We took our $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund plan to the 2022 federal election. It's a plan that will provide 30,000 homes in the first five years. Importantly, it will be set up forever, regardless of who is in government, providing a steady supply of affordable and social homes for those that need them most—older people, families, frontline workers, veterans. It's a plan that has widespread support from industry, community housing and homelessness providers.

But what is now blocking the Housing Australia Future Fund and more social and affordable homes? The Liberals and the Greens. It's hard to believe that anyone in the parliament could block affordable and social housing. But we're getting on with it. That's why the Albanese government is delivering immediate action, like the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator to deliver thousands of new social rental homes across Australia, including $650 million in New South Wales. We have an ambitious housing agenda which will boost the supply of all housing with more social housing, more affordable housing, more homes to rent and more homes to buy.

We established the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee three months early, helping regional people purchase a home with as little as a five per cent deposit and avoiding paying lenders mortgage insurance. We have widened the remit of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, making up to $575 million available to invest immediately in social and affordable rental homes. We are working with the states and territories through the National Housing Accord and National Cabinet to support planning and zoning reforms to contribute to the aspiration of building one million new homes over five years from 2024; as well as investing $350 million in additional federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable rental homes over five years from 2024 as part of the accord, matched by the states and territories. We have established the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council to provide expert advice to government on housing supply and affordability. We have provided an additional $67.5 million of funding to the states and territories to help tackle homelessness challenges as part of the one-year extension to the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement. The list goes on.

Recently I visited two local disability providers, Yumaro at Moruya and Jindelara at Ulladulla, that are crying out to build more independent living for people with a disability. I attended the opening of the Southern Youth and Family Services opening of accommodation for young people at Warilla, which is a fantastic project that looks amazing. But there is already a thirst from Southern Youth and Family Services for a similar facility in the Nowra area. Then there are the many people who contact my office, needing help with somewhere to live—like Lee, from Ulladulla. Lee contacted my office in 2020, saying that she was homeless and had nowhere to go. It was a very sad and, unfortunately, common story. Lee was told that, if she changed her area of preference to another town, she would be more likely to get housing. But Lee had family and connections in Ulladulla. She was born and raised there and, understandably, didn't want to leave. I did all I could to help Lee, and, thankfully, she is now in housing in Ulladulla. But it shouldn't have been that difficult.

There is so much demand for affordable and social housing, but who are getting in the way? The Liberals and the Greens—that's who. The Liberals and Greens are now blocking more affordable and social homes, and every day of delay by the Liberals and Greens means $1.3 million is not being spent on social and affordable housing for people who need it most. So I say to the Liberals and Greens: get out of the way and back this secure, ongoing pipeline of funding for social and affordable housing. We'll keep delivering to ensure that more people have a safe and affordable place to call home.

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