Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macnamara for his motion and for the opportunity to speak about the ongoing housing crisis in regional, rural and remote Australia. Across Australia, homes are more expensive and take longer to pay off than at any point in my lifetime. Consecutive interest rate rises and the cost of living are making it incredibly hard for those with a mortgage to make ends meet.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 11:14 to 11:25

It's no better for renters. With vacancy rates below one per cent in north-east Victoria, those without a home have little chance of finding one. Even if people can find a home to rent, many can't afford them, with rents in the north-east increasing by more than 10 per cent in the past year and almost 30 per cent since 2021. That's not Melbourne. That's not Sydney. That's regional Victoria. What's happening in my electorate is happening right across Australia. People in three-bedroom homes are being pushed into units, people in units are being pushed into caravan parks, and people in caravan parks are being pushed into tents along the rivers. Homelessness is at a level I've not seen in my decades of living in north-east Victoria.

It wasn't always like this. A home used to be affordable for the average worker. We provided decent and secure social housing for those doing it tough. It was a system where it didn't take a lifetime to pay off a mortgage and where your access to the bank of mum and dad didn't determine your chances of buying a home. Unfortunately, decades of policy dysfunction mean there are no quick-fix solutions. Despite the need for coordinated funding across all levels of government, I worry that this government is too focused on the major cities. The opposition, meanwhile, is more focused on raiding Australians' superannuation savings than putting forward credible alternative policies on regional housing.

At its core, this is an issue of supply. I know this because I listen to housing experts, I talk to local governments and I see what's happening in the towns right across my electorate of Indi. I'm not in this place to play political games. I'm here to find solutions that benefit the people who elected me as their independent representative. What I hear time and time again is that we need to build more homes—not just any homes but more affordable homes, homes close to where people live, work and play. We need to build homes that are energy efficient and that work to lower household bills every day. And we desperately need more social and affordable housing, with thousands of people on social housing waitlists in my region of north-east Victoria.

I know that regional Australia has the tools to build its way out of this housing crisis. Local governments and utility providers are ready to build new housing, but a lack of funding for critical enabling infrastructure is holding them back. Without more funding for improved sewerage, water connections and utilities connections, towns simply can't build the houses to meet the demand. That's why I welcomed the government's Housing Support Program, which will fund the critical enabling infrastructure I'm calling for, but I'm worried that regional Australia won't see its fair share of this funding, with $1 billion out of the $1.5 billion program going directly to state and territory governments. We have no visibility of how this money will be spent and no guarantee that local governments in electorates like mine will benefit.

We also need more funding overall. My proposal for a regional housing infrastructure fund shows that the regions alone require up to $2 billion, but the government has only invested $1.5 billion right across the entire nation. A regional housing infrastructure fund would guarantee that regional communities get a fair share of government housing funding. My commonsense policy is backed by the serious players in regional housing. It was backed comprehensively at the National Regional Housing Summit back in February.

We cannot forget about regional Australia when it comes to solving the housing crisis. Regional towns and cities are ready to build the housing of the 21st century, housing that is affordable, energy efficient, well located and ready to receive those workers who want to live and work in regional Australia. My policy is clear, and I'm prepared to work with anyone in this parliament to benefit the people of Indi and communities like them right across regional, rural and remote Australia.

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