Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That:

(1) the House notes:

(a) the housing affordability crisis is having a devastating impact on many Australians, particularly first home buyers and young families;

(b) urgent action is required to prevent the great Australian dream of home ownership from slipping away from many Australians;

(c) the National Australia Bank Residential Property survey for fourth quarter 2023 found that the market share of foreign buyers in new Australian housing markets grew for the fifth straight quarter to a six and a half year high of 11 per cent, and in New South Wales foreign buyers had a 15 per cent market share; and

(d) a two-year prohibition on the foreign purchase of residential property in Australia would ensure that the interests of foreign property speculators are not being prioritised over the interests of Australian first home buyers and young families; and

(2) Private Members' business order of the day No. 27, relating to the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Foreign Entities Bill 2024, be called on immediately and be given priority over all other business for final determination of the House.

Leave not granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the member for Calare moving the following motion immediately:

That:

(1) the House notes:

(a) the housing affordability crisis is having a devastating impact on many Australians, particularly first home buyers and young families;

(b) urgent action is required to prevent the great Australian dream of home ownership from slipping away from many Australians;

(c) the National Australia Bank Residential Property survey for fourth quarter 2023 found that the market share of foreign buyers in new Australian housing markets grew for the fifth straight quarter to a six and a half year high of 11 per cent, and in New South Wales foreign buyers had a 15 per cent market share; and

(d) a two-year prohibition on the foreign purchase of residential property in Australia would ensure that the interests of foreign property speculators are not being prioritised over the interests of Australian first home buyers and young families; and

(2) Private Members' business order of the day No. 27, relating to the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Foreign Entities Bill 2024, be called on immediately and be given priority over all other business for final determination of the House.

I raise this as a matter of urgency, because every single member of this House knows that Australia is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. I have sat in this House all week and listened to speaker after speaker on both sides of the aisle acknowledging this crisis and saying that it needs to be urgently addressed. There can be no disputing it. It's to the point where there is seemingly universal acknowledgement in this House that this is the case. Go back through the Hansard of this week and you will read members' speeches about how important it is that we get first home buyers and young families into the housing market. It cannot seriously be argued by any member in this House that this is not a matter of national urgency.

The great Australian dream of home ownership used to be the birthright of every single Australian. Now it's slipping away before our eyes, and everyone in this House knows it. If we accept that there is a housing affordability crisis, the question then becomes: what are we as a parliament going to do to address this issue?

Part of the solution to the housing affordability crisis is before this House as we speak. It's my private member's bill—my first one—the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Foreign Entities Bill 2024.

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