Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Since 2010, I've been holding a forum for young people in my electorate to ensure that their voices are heard. They don't get to vote, but they do have strong opinions on the things that we deliberate on in this place, and I'm very pleased that this year I held my 14th roundtable of young people.

Over 100 students from year 9 through to year 12 attended this year, from over 10 schools: Dapto High School, St Joseph's Catholic High School in Albion Park, Warilla High School, Albion Park High School, Illawarra Sports High School, Lake Illawarra High School, Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats High School, Kanahooka High School, Shellharbour Anglican College, Moss Vale High School, Bowral High School, Oxley College, Chevalier College, and the Southern Highlands Christian College.

At the conclusion of the forum, I promised that I'd come back to parliament and report on the matters that they discussed. One of the big issues facing young people is housing and housing affordability. Their aspirations and deep concerns to either own a house or be able to afford to move into a house and pay the rent were on display. They expressed their views about their future if this government, state governments and local governments don't work together to ensure we're working on the issue of housing affordability. They told me that every Australian, regardless of how much money they make, where they live or where they've come from, deserves to have a roof over their head.

It's why I am proud to be a part of the government which has greenlit nearly 14,000 new social and affordable homes, which is the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in Australia in over a decade. Our plan is focused on supply, which is why we're not giving up on our program to enable 40,000 low- and middle-income families to get into the housing market through the government's Help to Buy Scheme. I'm pleased that the housing minister has reintroduced the bill into the House of Representatives this week. It's about ensuring that we give more Australians the opportunity to own their own home.

Of course, there are many who will not be able to buy a house outright immediately and some who may never be able to. That's why our 25 per cent increase to rent assistance has been a meaningful uplift, the biggest uplift that we've seen in decades to assist low-income families to put a roof over their heads. We believe that it's a legitimate aspiration and a proper role for this government to be focusing on.

I wasn't surprised that the issue of vaping also came up, and I want to congratulate the students on the really intelligent discussion we had. We discussed the need for stronger legislation, more education and more enforcement to support their concerns in this area. Access to medical services, HECS debts and domestic violence were also discussed. I'll be putting their ideas into practice to ensure that they're represented in this parliament.

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