Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government understands that housing is more than just a roof over someone's head. It's about employment, it's about school and it's about friends and family. It provides security and economic wellbeing. And it's about being able to participate in the community. That's why the Albanese Labor government is committed to bringing homeownership back into the reach of Australians by helping more and more Australians around the country to move into their own home.

For many Novocastrians homeownership can feel like a far-off dream. Data released late last year showed the income required to buy a unit or a house in Newcastle was above the national average and higher than capital cities such as Melbourne. Homebuyers in Newcastle need to earn an income of more than $237,000 to comfortably service a house mortgage. Those in the market for a unit in Newcastle would need to earn a minimum household income of more than $181,000. In comparison, in Melbourne, a household income of $171,000 is needed to comfortably service a house mortgage. The average full-time salary in Australia is around $96,000, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data, and slightly less in Newcastle. I know these statistics won't come as a shock to Novocastrians trying to get a foot into the housing market.

These statistics tell a story. Once upon a time, the Australian dream of buying your own home was achievable without intergenerational wealth. But owning a home has decreased over successive generations and is becoming more and more unrealistic. We want to change that. Our government understands the seriousness of this issue, which we've already acted on. We know it will take a suite of measures to help bring homeownership back into reach for more Australians, and that is exactly what we are doing. One of our key election commitments was expanding the Home Guarantee Scheme, helping eligible home buyers secure finance sooner through government support. We've recently reached an important milestone with this scheme, having now helped 100,000 people into homeownership, including 2,235 in Lake Macquarie and Newcastle. That's more than 2,000 Novocastrians who now, thanks to the Albanese Labor government, own a home who would otherwise not.

The Home Guarantee Scheme enables an eligible homebuyer to buy a home with as little as a five per cent deposit, and the government guarantees the other 15 per cent. This saves homebuyers from having to pay lenders mortgage insurance, meaning a savings of tens of thousands of dollars. We know that the average time to save for a deposit on a house on a medium income now exceeds a decade. The Home Guarantee Scheme means people who can service a loan for a mortgage but can't get over that hurdle of getting a deposit together are given a foot up.

The Albanese Labor government has also expanded eligibility of the Home Guarantee Scheme to allow joint applications between friends and family members, not just single, married or de facto applicants, and that's a great thing. We need more choices, more housing options in Australia, not fewer. The results speak for themselves. Almost one in three first home buyers are now using this government scheme—a significant increase from the last year of the former Liberal government. It's just one part of our ambitious housing reform agenda.

The Help to Buy scheme, the legislation that's before the House this evening, is another piece of help we're providing to Australians trying to set up their own home. It's help for thousands more Australians wanting to own their own home. Through Help to Buy, the Commonwealth will cut the cost of buying a home by up to 40 per cent. Participants will require only a minimum of a two per cent deposit and will benefit from lower ongoing mortgage repayments through having a smaller home loan. It will be the first national shared equity scheme of its kind, supporting up to 40,000 eligible Australians with purchasing a home. This scheme will be open to applications for four years, with 10,000 places available each year.

The Help to Buy Bill 2023 gives Housing Australia the power to enter into shared equity arrangements. Eligible participants will be able to access the scheme through participating lenders alongside a standard mortgage. This scheme will help participants overcome both the hurdle of saving for a deposit and the hurdle of servicing a mortgage. That's because the Commonwealth will provide an equity contribution, and scheme participants will have lower ongoing repayments due to the smaller home loan being taken out in the first place. The financial risk and benefit, capital gains and losses will be shared between the participant and the Commonwealth proportionate to their interests. All states have agreed through the national cabinet to progress legislation so the scheme can run nationally. That is a great thing. We have every state and territory in Australia signed up to this scheme.

The bill also includes the administrative framework for Help to Buy, including that Housing Australia must report to the minister on an annual basis, the minister must cause a review of Help to Buy as soon as possible after the end of three years from the commencement of the bill and that regulations for Help to Buy may enable administrative review of Housing Australia's decisions under the program.

Help to Buy will be open to assist people who have owned homes before and those who haven't. It will help couples, singles, siblings, friends, people close to retirement, those just starting out in the workforce and anyone eligible in between. This is an ambitious government committed to a housing agenda that will improve housing affordability and supply. Whilst we're often told by those opposite that it's states and territories that bear the primary responsibility for housing, including the provision of homelessness services, the Albanese Labor government has an ambitious housing reform agenda to ensure that all Australians can have a secure and safe place to call home. That's unlike those opposite, who say, 'It's not our responsibility,' and wash their hands and take no responsibility for providing citizens with one of the most basic of citizenship needs and rights—that is, safe affordable housing. They insist, 'No, no, no, it's not our job.' They anticipate voting no, but I beg them to rethink what they're doing, particularly those in regional seats.

Labor's housing agenda beyond this bill includes a $1.7 billion one-year extension of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement with states and territories, including $67.5 million in boosts to homelessness services. We've also got the development of the new National Housing and Homelessness Plan. We have the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, the first of its kind; a national target to build 1.2 million well-appointed and well-located homes; $3 billion in a new homes bonus; and $5 million for the Housing Support Program. There's the national housing accord, which includes federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024, and that will be matched by another 10,000 from the state and territory governments; the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator fund to deliver around 4,000 new social homes across Australia; an investment of an additional $1 billion in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, again, to support more homes; and up to $575 million in funding already unlocked from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, with homes under construction now. Remember that those opposite tried to block these bills before, saying that we couldn't do it, we were too ambitious and that it was not our responsibility and not our job. Well, those homes are under construction now.

The government also increased the maximum rate of the Commonwealth rent assistance by 15 per cent, the largest increase in more than 30 years. These are things that only Labor governments ever worry about and, indeed, deliver on. There's the additional $2 billion in financing for more social and affordable rental housing through Housing Australia. We've got new incentives to boost the supply of rental housing by changing arrangements for investments in build-to-rent accommodation, and the states and territories are committing to a better deal for renters to harmonise and strengthen renters' rights right across the nation. This is good news. This is good news for every generation of Australian citizens.

Those opposite often like to regard themselves as the party for homeownership, yet they will oppose this bill. I've never met a Liberal in this Australian parliament who actually thinks that they have a role to play in the provision of housing for our citizens. Usually their answer is: 'No, no, no. That's the job of the states and territories.' That's no matter how dire the situation and no matter how big a housing crisis our nation faces. That is not the Labor way. Indeed, it is only Labor governments that have ever stepped up to deliver housing policy at a national level.

This is legislation that will deliver one of the most basic fundamental rights for citizens, and that is access to a safe and affordable place to call home. There is nothing more basic. There is no more basic need than that in our country. Chifley understood this, the first of the great Labor leaders to invest in federal housing programs. That was followed by Whitlam, who also fully understood the importance of housing and proper services and who delivered sewerage to the suburbs. Again, this was vehemently opposed at the time. 'It's not the job of federal governments,' we were told. These are people facing dire circumstances with very clear, obvious needs. I'm not sure how those opposite look those people squarely in the eyes and say, 'Sorry, it's not our job.' We know that was the mantra under the former government. My one piece of advice to members opposite is: do not carry that through your term of opposition.

Australians who are squeezed out of housing markets and rental markets and are deeply worried about their capacity to have a safe, affordable place to call home will not thank you for shirking your responsibilities. They expect a government to be able to listen to their cries and formulate policy and legislation that in fact delivers on their needs. We've seen it following Chifley and Whitlam and, of course, when we had the Hawke and Keating governments, who understood the need for a national housing policy. This was followed through by Rudd and Gillard. Then we go back to the hiatus during the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison government years. No homes were to be built then. For Labor leaders and Labor members in this parliament, the idea that you would wash your hands of any responsibility to deliver housing for citizens at a time of tremendous need is utterly abhorrent. It is unimaginable. But I guess, when you've got a target of building zero houses, it's little wonder that no new housing ever came to fruition.

We do have an ambitious plan. We are a government that acts. We're not content to sit back and say: 'Not our job. Not us. Not Labor.' Australians can have a safe and secure place to call home. We should be working every day and every night to ensure that is possible. Delivering on Help to Buy, alongside all our other housing commitments, is part of that commitment to the Australian people. It's what drives our government every day. Our ambitious housing reform plan is working, and you should support it.

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