Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

Let me say a few things about our government's housing policy. We arrived in office 2½ years ago to find housing in an absolute mess. Let's remember that, for most of the period of time that those opposite were in government, they didn't even have a Commonwealth housing minister. They do not have a leg to stand on. We've taken a very different approach. Our country today is led by a prime minister who was raised in public housing. His access to public housing as a child transformed the entire trajectory of his life. Those opposite don't like to hear it much, but the fact that we have a person who was raised in public housing as our Prime Minister is I think a fact that every Australian should be proud of.

We want to offer the opportunity of secure housing to as many people as we can. We've got a housing crisis in our country that's been cooking for 30 years. We are the boldest and most ambitious Commonwealth in that period to come forward and say we want to help Australians address this need.

One of the main things that we are doing about this is working with the states and territories to build more homes. We are trying to work with the states and territories to build 1.2 million homes over five years. We're working with renters to make sure that they've got better rental rights. And we're trying to get more Australians into that dream of homeownership.

Now, if only we had a parliament that actually wanted to work with us on this issue that affects millions of people. Instead, what we have is an opposition that knows only one word—'no, no, no'—to every single proposition that's put before it. And, unfortunately, for people on the crossbench, the Australian Greens, who talk a big game about housing, when it comes to making real change for real people they say no too. Who would have thought the far left and the far right had so much in common in this country? Despite that opposition we will work hard to make sure that we meet the housing needs of people in this country.

See this speech in context