Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just in my electorate of Wills there are many people who have and are currently benefiting from the National Rental Affordability Scheme, which was created and put in place by the Rudd Labor government in 2008. This program enables eligible tenants to rent private properties at 20 per cent below their market rental value. Right now this includes 5,633 dwellings in the state of Victoria. That's 423 dwellings in my electorate of Wills: 49 in Brunswick, 194 in Brunswick East, 40 in Coburg, one in Fawkner, 37 in Glenroy, four in Hadfield, 10 in Oak Park and 88 in Pascoe Vale. But by 2026 there will be zero dwellings under this subsidised scheme—zero in Wills; zero in Victoria—because this coalition government has no plans to fund the program beyond 2026. It's hard enough for so many people to pay rent in my electorate of Wills and across the country. For people struggling to pay rent and pay their bills, just to make ends meet, this has been an important program. The coalition government's actions—or, I should say, nonactions—are making it even harder for those people struggling.