Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the things I love about my job is the opportunity to spend time with Swan community members, and, very occasionally, they actually get to come to Canberra. I had the privilege of meeting an amazing woman, Caitlin, who lives in the heart of Swan. She is a mum. She has a son and daughter just like me. She was part of a renters' delegation and was telling me about some of the challenges she had been experiencing. She had an amazing rental history, had had three successful two-year leases and was about to negotiate the next lease when the property manager turned, almost like a switch. They were like, 'We don't negotiate two-year leases.' Then she felt the tone of the relationship change. What she saw was a systematic approach to basically get her out of her home. When her lease ran out, they wanted to increase her rent by $190—pretty outrageous for a single mum. When she left, her neighbours cried; they had really strong relationships. The coalition government did not have a housing minister; we do. We are listening. We have a housing policy, and I would love to see the Help to Buy scheme bill actually pass in the Senate. Please listen.

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