Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

This is a good day in the people's house and it's a good day for people looking to buy a house. Today our government delivers on a commitment that I put at the centre of my campaign launch in Perth back in May 2022. It has taken some time to get agreement through this House and through the Senate, but what we have done is make sure that today this becomes policy of the nation. The name of this policy, the name of the bill, tells you everything you need to know: Help to Buy. But those opposite don't want to help people and they certainly don't want people to buy their own home. This is new help for 10,000 aspiring homeowners every year and a new road to homeownership for hardworking Australians.

We've held to this policy in the face of reckless obstructionism and rank opportunism. We've persevered even when we were told there was no chance that it would get through this parliament. We've stood our ground because we care about helping more Australians know the security of a roof over their heads because our Labor government supports the aspiration of homeownership and we want to bring that dream in reach of more Australians. That's what this bill is about. It's a circuit breaker for Australians who have done all the right things. They've worked hard, made sacrifices and saved up as best they can, but they can't save for a 20 per cent deposit and pay rent at the same time. They just can't get their foot in the door. What we've done to support renters, of course, is to be the first government in 30 years to boost rent assistance not once but two years in a row, and we've worked with the state and territories to strengthen renters' rights, but we don't think everyone should have to rent forever.

We don't think you should have to settle for paying off someone else's mortgage when you could be settling on a home of your own. And that's why we're stepping up and helping out. Our Help to Buy plan will put in in 30 per cent of the purchase price of an existing home and 40 per cent of the purchase price of a new home. That cuts your deposit to as little as two per cent. That means you pay less up-front, you have a smaller mortgage and your monthly repayments are smaller too. We are doing this because we know that a home of your own is more than a place to live. It's about security and opportunity, stability and a sense of connection to your local community. It's a foundation on which you can build a good life for yourself and your family, and that's why this legislation is just one vital part of our $32 billion Homes for Australia plan, all of it driving our ambitious target of building 1.2 million new homes by the end of the decade, because we know that the key is, of course, supply.

That's why we're also training more tradies through free TAFE, also opposed by those opposite, building more social housing, public housing and private rentals through our Build to Rent scheme, which we hope to see pass this parliament this week as well, and building more crisis accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence, opposed by those opposite as well and delayed by the Senate, through the Housing Australia Future Fund. We're working with state, territory and local governments across Australia to cut red tape, speed up approvals, unlock more land for construction and build more homes where people want to live, close to family, jobs, services and public transport. These are the practical and positive messages you get from a Labor government.

There's something else all those measures have in common: they have all been opposed at every turn by the Liberal and National Parties. The Liberals talk a lot about homeownership. The shadow minister yesterday was down there talking with the Greens political party at the Press Club. I'll give him credit for this: unlike his leader, he does know where the National Press Club is! So that's a plus. I give him credit. Yet all they have done is oppose everything—oppose more social housing, oppose more public housing, oppose support for people who are renting and oppose more private rentals through the Build to Rent scheme. That is what they have done. Well, Labor stands for homeownership and aspiration. We stand up for superannuation, not trashing it, as those opposite want to do. And today, we send a clear message to Australians looking for help to buy a home: our Labor government is on your side, and I'm proud to join my colleagues in commending this bill to the House.

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