Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I heard the sincerity in the member for Cowper's voice. He wants to be a part of a better option. I heard his sincerity in caring about housing and caring about his community, who are clearly struggling. The member for Cowper would be so much more credible if he came into this place and actually supported, with his vote, the facilitation and construction of not only more housing each and every year but also a fund that will be there long into the future to construct thousands and thousands of homes.

If you go and speak to any of the community housing organisations that the member for Cowper was referring to, you know that they are pulling their hair out because the model that they have asked for—to give them certainty around long-term investments to get projects started in areas like Macnamara as well as in areas like Cowper—is here before the parliament. Those opposite come into this place and pretend that they have no ability to make change. Well, they do. They can come into this place and vote for a bill that will literally construct thousands of homes right across the country, and they can do it today. Instead, what they're doing is coming in here and complaining about the state of housing across the country, complaining about the fact that we're not building enough homes. Yet they're the ones working with the Greens and Pauline Hanson in order to block the facilitation of a government bill that literally legislates a fund to go each and every year into construction of social homes.

Historically in this country it has been Labor governments who have used the federal government to invest in social housing, and the coalition have used every single opportunity that they have been in government to turn their back on the construction of social housing. In government it has been their ideological bent to prevent the federal government from investing in federal social housing programs. That is to the detriment of our country. Yet we come into this place offering them an opportunity, saying that we are in an unprecedented situation where we need to build more homes, and they turn their back on the Australians who need a home—Australians who are fleeing domestic violence as well as veterans. For goodness sake.

I was in my electorate with an organisation called South Port Community Housing, an organisation that does great work. They're based in South Melbourne, an area where there is a really high percentage of social housing. I am so proud to be the representative of an area like South Melbourne, which does have a very large social and public housing community. They are great people. For many of them, South Melbourne has been their home for a generation; their families have been there. It is really important that they maintain their connection with our local community. South Port Community Housing have a number of places. The particular one I visited is a building that they own, but it is not fit for purpose. It needs an upgrade; it needs to be redeveloped. The Housing Australia Future Fund is exactly the mechanism that South Port Housing need in order to get their finances right to turn this into a major new social housing hub in my electorate. It is in an amazing location, right next to public transport, right next to infrastructure, right in the heart of Melbourne—exactly where housing and social housing should be, integrated with our local community.

Yet the people opposite come in here and complain that we're not doing enough. It's ridiculous. You can't come in here and not vote for the construction of social housing and then complain that the government's not doing enough. Why don't they turn around and actually do something constructive, instead of making it a political issue at each and every opportunity? It's exactly the same as what they're doing in energy. They come in here and complain about the cost of energy facing the people we represent, and then they go and literally vote for higher energy prices. It's absurd. They come in here and complain about the cost of living, yet each and every time we try to make industrial relations changes or try to lift the wages of hardworking Australians they oppose it. Instead of just looking for the baseline political issue, those opposite could come into this place and actually vote for the construction of housing. They could vote for lower energy bills. They could vote for an increase in the wages of hardworking people.

Then of course there's the Greens, who are calling for the federal government to legislate on rent caps. Well, even if we did, it wouldn't have an effect. We don't have the constitutional power to do so. What we do have the constitutional power to do is invest in the construction of social housing homes. That's what we can do. That's the power that we do have. And the Greens are choosing to deny the construction of social housing homes because they want us to do something that we don't have the power to do. Instead of these political games by this merry gang of coalition over there, why don't we come in here and actually make the change that the Australian people deserve and the Australian people are asking us to make?

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