Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What an extraordinary matter of public importance we are debating today. It's not the content that is extraordinary, because I think we all agree that housing is important. What is extraordinary is the member who is moving this MPI, the member for Deakin—the former housing minister. That he is the one who is moving a motion for debate on housing is pure irony—so much irony that Alanis Morissette should rewrite her song—because this housing crisis has been brewing for years and years. And who was the housing minister for many of those years? It was the member for Deakin. In his time as the Minister for Housing, he could not even be bothered to convene a meeting of all the state and territory housing ministers. We know that the issue of housing affordability is complex. It involves local council, development approvals, state and territory planning policy, and support for infrastructure projects. Yet the member for Deakin, in the years that he was the Minister for Housing, could not bring himself to get everyone together to establish a national housing plan.

So let's look at the track record on housing of those opposite. A pretty basic part of public policy is understanding the problem. Whether it's monitoring supply or demand, you've got to be able to measure the scale of the challenge. That seems like a fairly uncontroversial point—but not for those opposite. Under the Abbott government those opposite abolished the National Housing Supply Council, the very body charged with giving us that vital information.

For those keeping score on how bad those opposite were on housing: they were lazy and couldn't convene a meeting of all housing ministers. They were inept, abolishing the body that was providing us with a better understanding of the housing affordability challenge. Now we've got the real winner of bad housing policy. What is it? Raiding your superannuation, your retirement income. It is such a bad policy that respected economist Saul Eslake described it as 'one of the worst public policy decisions of the 21st century'. I think he undersold how bad it is, but it's pretty bad, because what their housing policy does is turbocharge demand for housing while doing nothing to address supply.

But don't take my word for it and don't take the word of Saul Eslake. Let's hear what former Liberal finance minister Mathias Cormann thinks. This is what he had to say:

Increasing the amount of money going into real estate by facilitating access to super savings pre-retirement will not improve housing affordability It would increase demand for housing and, all other things being equal, would actually drive up house prices by more.

So their one housing policy won't do anything to assist with housing affordability; it will drive up prices.

After nine years of neglect from those opposite, this is a government on this side of the House that is finally showing leadership on housing. We are tackling it from four angles. One is providing direct assistance to the most vulnerable through a record increase in rent assistance and the establishment of the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund to build more social and affordable housing that Australia needs.

The second thing we're doing is boosting housing supply by working with state governments through the Housing Accord to set a national target to build 1.2 million more homes over the next five years. We're investing an additional $1 billion in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to finance building more homes, and we've changed tax arrangements to encourage investment in build-to-rent accommodation.

The third thing we're doing is providing institutional reform and leadership, because, finally, we have a minister for housing who is willing to convene a meeting of all the housing ministers and who has set up the first National Housing Supply and Affordability Council.

The fourth angle that we're taking is providing assistance to first home buyers, getting them a foot on the property ladder through our Help to Buy scheme and expanding the Home Guarantee Scheme. This is a government that cares about addressing housing affordability, and we're doing just that.

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