Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We've heard certain arguments used as a crutch in the answers to questions and in the speeches that are given on this. I note that my friend the member for Spence has interjected. We are both the co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Veterans. Veterans have been used in this argument as a crutch. A crutch is a lazy tool to back up a premise that you don't have and that doesn't make sense. I want to go to veterans and housing, because that's where we got to the highest rate of home ownership under the prime ministership of Robert Menzies. Robert Menzies, during World War II, when Australians were fighting and dying overseas for this country, turned his mind to housing. He turned his mind to housing because he knew it was a fundamental thing to secure the prosperity and future of all Australians. Under his leadership and his government, home ownership in this country went from 46 per cent in 1947 to 72 per cent in 1966. That was not just during a time when veterans came back—and they weren't just offered a talking point; they were actually offered an actual home of their own—he did that during some of the greatest migration booms in this country. Migrants from throughout the world came to this country and had a home of their own and a home for their children and their grandchildren.

There are many quotes that have been given to Robert Menzies during that time, but he talked about homes material, homes human and homes spiritual. When we talk about homes material, it's that sense of owning your own little bit of Australia, your own garden where you tend to your own vegetables. That means so much to Australians. When we talk about homes human, it's the idea of raising your own family in a home. Homes spiritual is the sense of freedom, self-reliance and responsibility that comes with your own home. These are powerful things that both sides of this chamber should agree on. They're not just Liberal values, but sadly it has only been Liberal governments that have instituted the policies that reinforce them.

That is a great shame because what Robert Menzies showed is that you can actually manage population growth and housing. You can manage that problem. That're what we're talking about here. We're talking about managing a problem, and right now you are not managing it. You are creating problems with a bill like this. It's not providing solutions. It's not looking after veterans. It's not looking after families. It's not looking after migrants. That is your responsibility. And there is a housing crisis. We should all agree on democratising prosperity. We should all agree on democratising home ownership. Part of that is democratising the Australian dream of owning your own bit of this country. That is something that we must all agree on, and it starts with doing something about it. I hope that the minister does finally do something about it.

Question agreed to.

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