Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Kooyong, as I did the member for Indi earlier this week who brought a motion into the parliament looking at housing. I particularly commend the member for Kooyong's matter of public importance today because we need to make sure that this issue stays on the agenda.

I supported the government's Housing Australia Future Fund and its Social Housing Accelerator program, but I must say that while I supported these significant investments, I don't believe that they alone will be a panacea for our housing crisis. We also need to look at the demand that we're creating. According to Treasury and OECD figures, Australia has fewer dwellings per 1,000 people than the OECD average, and we've a supply of just 420 per 1,000 people. This places us in the bottom 11 countries, well below the OECD average. I believe this imbalance has been worsened—and my community believes it has been worsened—by the record migration numbers.

As reported in syndicated papers today, the government's 'big Australia' policy has somewhat exacerbated the housing problem that we have today. We've seen 1.15 million migrants come into Australia since the change of government. This represents 62 per cent more migrants than under the Rudd-Gillard government, which was the previous record holder, and more migrants in 27 months then under the Hawke-Keating government, which was in power for 156 months.

The unchecked intake is supercharging demand on housing; it's supercharging demand on everything. In 2022, the median housing price was 4.9 times the median gross disposable income. In early 2024, this increased to 8.6 times. It's also taking Australians much longer to save for a deposit. Back in 2022, it took less than seven years to save a 20 per cent deposit. Now, it's taking 11 years.

We know homeownership gives you the greatest financial stability in life; it gives security and stability. The best chance of you having a good life into retirement relies on you owning your own home. For those lucky enough to own a home, the cost of servicing these loans has crippled household budgets after 12 interest rate rises. The RBA acknowledges that migration under the Labor government has contributed to inflation, and that has led to these interest rate rises. So I think we need to have a very sober conversation about migration when we're talking about housing.

It is even more difficult for renters, especially in the regions. As I mentioned in a speech earlier this week, the Domain June 2024 rental report shows a quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.8 per cent for houses and 4.3 per cent for units in Adelaide. Going to the regions, in Mount Barker the increase was 10.8 per cent to June and a staggering 52.7 per cent over five years. Similarly, rent in Victor Harbor has increased by more than 50 per cent over the last five years. We are seeing people who have grown up in an area being forced out of that area simply because they can't afford to live there. Local government areas of Alexandrina, encompassing the Fleurieu, and Kangaroo Island have experienced a 20 per cent annual increase in rent and a five-year increase to 76.5 per cent. These figures are absurd, and they're forcing people into poverty.

None of the government's policies or initiatives aimed at increasing housing supply will work if, as I said, we don't also address the demand side of this issue. Current projections are that a child born today will be nearly 40 years old—this is assuming they start work at the age of 20—before they've saved enough for their housing deposit. That means that in one generation, effectively, we've taken away the great Australian dream. Shame on us for doing that. This is not the future that I want for my children or for my grandchildren. I urge us all to work together to look at solutions that look at supply. They also must look at the demand side of the equation. Otherwise, we're just creating a Ponzi scheme here.

See this speech in context