Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At local markets and street stalls, people often share their stories with me—stories about housing and rapid population growth, which is occurring right across my electorate of Corangamite in Victoria. The Albanese government understands that this rapid growth is putting pressure on housing availability and affordability, particularly in electorates like mine. Since coming to office in 2022, we have introduced a raft of measures to proactively address these challenges, and we are making significant progress. The latest measure is our Help to Buy scheme, which will cut the cost of buying a new home by up to 40 per cent with the help of the Commonwealth through Housing Australia. For existing homes, the bill will cut costs by 30 per cent. This will give buyers a much needed leg-up and also boost housing supply, with an incentive largely directed at the construction of new homes. Participants in this scheme will only require a two per cent deposit and will benefit from lower mortgage payments through smaller ongoing home loans.

Significantly, Help to Buy will support the purchase of up to 10,000 properties per year over four years. This will be tightly targeted, meaning it will help people who need it, without driving up property prices. This housing reform will be the first national shared-equity scheme of its kind, where the Commonwealth will play a vital role in helping people buy a home of their own. Put simply, this bill, the Help to Buy Bill 2023, is all about bringing down the cost barriers that prevent Australians from entering the housing market. It's about putting downward pressure on rental prices without impacting inflation. It's about addressing key challenges affecting young Australians, like Lily from my electorate in Corangamite. Lily rents in a share house in Torquay. She juggles two jobs, working 40 hours at a shop in Barwon Heads and, on weekends, running a baked goods business with her mum. Alongside that, she is studying at TAFE. Despite all the hard work and long hours, Lily told me she couldn't possibly see herself buying a home in the next ten years. She said: 'It's just not possible, no matter where I look. To put together a deposit at the moment is almost impossible.' When I told her about the Help to Buy scheme and what it will mean for young Australians like her, her whole disposition changed. She said: 'This is a game changer. Why couldn't this have come sooner?' I told her that this was a question for members of the opposition, the former government, who did little to tackle housing supply and affordability.

Now we see the coalition teaming up with the Greens to stand in the way of more help for homebuyers, despite the fact this bill will put downward pressure on rental prices. Help to Buy will provide a pathway to homeownership for people like Lily who have been locked out of the market. I urge the Greens and the coalition to please do the right thing, support this bill and help more renters be able to buy a home.

On this side of the House, we recognise Australia's housing challenges are serious, and our government is serious about addressing them. Our Minister for Housing and Minister for Small Business has been working hard to make this a reality, rolling out a suite of measures to revitalise our housing market after a decade of policy neglect. We know that in the last decade, under former coalition governments, it was so much harder for Australians. That is not what our communities deserve, and it's why this Labor government is acting. With the cost-of-living challenges facing Australians, this bill signals our government's commitment to ensuring people right across our nation have access to the dreams and ambitions of homeownership. This dream has been the pillar of our national identity for decades, from postwar reconstruction, when the Chifley Labor government delivered the world's first ever federal housing policy, to the housing policies of Whitlam, Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard—Labor leaders who understood that owning your home was the key to a rewarding life; a life well lived. Under their leadership, owning a home became the foundation of our new national story. It was the heart of iconic shows like The Sullivans and Neighbours, and who can forget the classic Australian drama, The Castle, which told our story, the story of the importance of homeownership and the Australian dream. But, over the last two decades, former coalition governments have systematically closed the door on homeownership for so many Australians and dismantled this key component of our national identity. 'Tell them they're dreaming' was the coalition's message to Australians who dreamed of owning their own home. Previous coalition governments were more than happy to leave homes empty across the nation while hardworking Australians went without. That's why the Albanese government has introduced the bill in this House. We know that, because of the inaction of the former Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, outright homeownership rates have dropped significantly. This inaction was fuelled by infighting and leadership squabbles which were aptly showcased in the Nemesis program on the ABC. This bill, alongside our ambitious housing agenda, is all about changing that reality.

Just last year, we delivered on our commitment for the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee three months early. That reform has already helped more than 13,000 people across Australia into homeownership. In 2024, we'll deliver more help for homebuyers and renters with significant tax cuts, family health boosts and rent assistance. This bill will ensure that Australians don't have to sacrifice their health, wellbeing and education and that they can put a roof over their head. It will work alongside our government's cheaper medicines policy, which is driving down prices at the pharmacy for more than 300 medicines which have now been added to the PBS. It will work alongside the cheaper child care subsidy, which has seen more than 30,000 families save up to $1,500 on childcare costs. It will work alongside our urgent care clinics, where you just need a Medicare card—not a credit card—to get the health care you need. It will work alongside our tax cuts for all Australians, putting more dollars back into the pockets of hardworking Australians. And, of course, it adds to our ambitious housing agenda, which includes the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund building 30,000 new homes in its first five years, with a new national target to build 1.2 million well-located homes, a $3 billion new homes bonus, a $500 million housing support program and a $2 billion social-housing accelerator to deliver around 4,000 new social homes across Australia.

There is more. There's our National Housing Accord, which includes federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024, an investment of an additional $1 billion in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support more homes and up to $575 million in funding already unlocked from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, with homes under construction. We're increasing the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance by 15 per cent—the largest increase in 30 years—and providing an extra $2 billion in financing for more social and affordable rental housing through Housing Australia.

It doesn't stop there. There are new incentives to boost rental housing by changing arrangements for investments in build-to-rent accommodation. There's a $1.7 billion one-year extension of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement with states and territories, including a $67.5 million boost to homelessness funding over the next year. We're developing a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan and a better deal for renters, which the states and territories have agreed to implement through this suite of measures and the bill I stand to support today. We're making a real difference for so many Australians looking to buy a home of their own. These reforms are about strengthening our housing market for local communities, local families and all people who want a roof over their head. They're about unlocking the door to homeownership for all Australians. Our government understands that, with national leadership, with cooperation with states, local government and industry and with the right housing policies, we can continue to make a real difference. I urge the Greens and the coalition to support this bill. Support hardworking Australians like Lily, and do the right thing. I commend this bill to the House.

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