Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

Our housing crisis deepens day after day and will continue to do so under this Labor government. In my home state of Queensland the housing crisis is set to worsen to a worrying 20,000-home shortfall by 2027 unless swift and decisive action is taken. Rockhampton's vacancy rate is one of the lowest in Australia, sitting at a tight 0.9 per cent. This has left dozens of locals battling against each other to secure a roof over their head.

At a recent Homeless Connect program held in Rockhampton, over 300 attendees presented for help. The actual number of those sleeping rough is much higher. Over 1,200 locals in the Rockhampton region are registered with the Department of Housing seeking accommodation. Unfortunately, experts in the field of housing believe the figure for those sleeping rough is double this amount. One attendee to the Homelessness Connect day, a young mum sleeping rough in her car with her 20-month-old, eagerly awaits the day she receives a call to say they will have a place to call home after months living in her car. Rental prices throughout Capricornia are on the climb, with the average rental asking price increasing right across Central Queensland. An increase by $53 or 12.6 per cent was seen this quarter compared to this time last year in Rockhampton, with locals in the suburb of West Rockhampton now paying an average of $420 a week. On the Capricorn Coast, renting a house in Taranganba has jumped to an eye-watering $585 per week. In comparison, the cost was $500 last year.

First home buyers are now at the lowest levels. Only 7,646 first home buyers took out a loan in December last year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported first home buyer loans were at a record five-year low this year. New house starts dropped by 6.6 per cent and new house approvals saw a drop of about 13 per cent compared to this time last year. The last time such loan commitments were this low was in June 2017, where it hit only 7,642 loans. This government is treading water while standing by a housing policy that provides no certainty that their investment of $10 billion will secure returns and no guaranteed revenue stream. The $10 billion borrowed will cost the government approximately $400 million per annum in interest, servicing costs on the debt at the current rate of four per cent. I am a numbers person, and the numbers just do not add up. Had the Housing Australia Future Fund been established last financial year, the Commonwealth would have lost approximately $370 million in addition to around $400 million in interest on what was borrowed. This brings a total combined loss of $740 million, and means not one dollar would have been available for social or affordable housing projects.

After over a year in government, Labor's housing policies are falling to pieces. The minister for housing has walked away from Labor's key election commitment of building 30,000 social and affordable homes over the next five years, and will instead make a minimum of 1,200 dwellings available in each state and territory in the same period. This is significantly less housing in the same period to what was promised. Following the government's failed budget, a brash decision was called to pour $2 billion dollars into the states and territories coffers for social housing. The hurried nature of this announcement means there are no details of which new housing projects will be supported by this funding. Where was the detail of where these houses will be located, when they will be built and who will build them? This $2 billion splash of cash was smoke and mirrors to attempt to distract the Greens from the Housing Australia Future Fund.

In stark contrast, the coalition had a strong record for supporting over 300,000 Australians achieve the great Australian dream by assisting them to get their own home, while more than 21,000 social and affordable homes were built through the establishment of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation. The NHFIC unlocked $2.9 billion in low-cost loans to assist community housing providers to support 15,000 social and affordable dwellings. The former coalition government's commitment to Australians in crisis is one of a strong track record, with policies that were proven to lift up those in need.

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