Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to back the suspension of standing orders. This is an urgent issue. Housing availability comes up every time I have a community event. As the minister said, every lever needs to be on the table, long term and short term, and this is one of those levers. A temporary ban on the foreign purchase of residential property is one lever. It won't solve the whole piece, but it is part of the toolkit. I was initially concerned about this because it can come across as being xenophobic. I'm not against immigration. This is a short-term response to a crisis that we have at the moment.

I'd make two points. Firstly, we're not adding to supply by allowing foreign investors to build new homes, because they are competing with Australians who want to build homes and can't get access to the land, the tradies and the materials. Secondly, we debated the Help to Buy legislation. That will benefit 10,000 people, but it may add fuel to the fire and add to demand. This relates to 4,000 houses a year, based on last year, but it does potentially reduce demand. Surely it is worth debating this urgently.

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