Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) more than 140,000 Australians were on social housing waitlists in June 2018;

(b) the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has identified a shortfall of 433,000 social housing dwellings over the next 20 years;

(c) much of Australia's existing social housing stock is in dire need of maintenance and repairs; and

(d) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has urged the Government to consider investment in social housing as a means of protecting Australia's economy from the impacts of COVID-19;

(2) recognises the success of Labor's $5 billion investment to build 20,000 new social housing dwellings and renovate a further 80,000, as a key economic stimulus measure during the global financial crisis; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

(a) ensure that stimulus measures are focused on delivering maximum ongoing public benefit; and

(b) work with the private and community sectors and superannuation funds to invest in more social housing and repair existing social housing.

Report after report has shown that investment in social housing is critical to Australia's post-COVID-19 social and economic recovery. That's why I have moved this motion. Social housing is in urgent need of direct public investment, and we need national leadership to make this happen.

Australians are currently living through some of the most dire social and economic conditions in living memory. We are facing what could be the deepest recession in a century. More than half a million jobs have disappeared already and, based on the government's own projections, we're set to lose another 400,000 jobs by Christmas. Key industries have been smashed. The housing construction sector, an important marker of the health of any economy, is heading for a 27 per cent collapse according to Master Builders Australia. Tragically, the Morrison government's attempt at a housing stimulus package—the so-called HomeBuilder scheme—has been almost completely ineffectual. Let's face it, a program that hands out $25,000 grants for renovations costing more than $150,000, or a new home build costing more than $750,000, was never going to hit the mark, in terms of the unmet need for social housing. Recently, I've been deputy chairing the parliamentary inquiry into homelessness and we looked closely at the HomeBuilder scheme. It's fair to say the verdict wasn't good, with consecutive witnesses telling the committee what a lemon it is. They reaffirmed the sentiment of the Grattan Institute's Brendan Coates, who said the scheme is 'retail politics but lousy economics'. They confirmed the reality that it's too small and too complex and will come too late to save many of the hundreds of thousands of tradie jobs that are at risk. Indeed, three months into the six-month window for the HomeBuilder grants, the scheme has accepted less than 250 applications. For a national scheme that purports to be helping the residential construction sector get through this pandemic, this take-up rate is appalling.

Witnesses also drove home the reality that much of the public money would be handed out to private property owners for projects they were going to do anyway. But, most importantly, witnesses lamented that the $688 million dollar program fundamentally fails to deliver any direct or lasting community benefit. While property owners will qualify for a $25,000 government grant, there's nothing for the Australians who need housing most. There's not a cent to help women and children fleeing domestic violence, people sleeping rough, young Australians, essential workers or those who lose their jobs. They miss out entirely. In fact, HomeBuilder provides zero ongoing public benefit to Australian taxpayers, which is something that should be non-negotiable with any government investment of this size.

In stark contrast to HomeBuilder, the committee heard evidence from many witnesses that there is a way to make a real difference, and that is by increasing public investment in social housing. Of course this makes perfect sense. There has never been a better time to take advantage of record low interest rates to boost our national social and affordable housing supply. That's why federal Labor has been calling for the federal government to deliver a national housing stimulus plan, with a focus on social housing for months. This call has been echoed by economists, housing sector experts and community advocates alike. In my community, I'd particularly like to recognise Compass Housing, Nova For Women and Children, the Samaritans and the Committee for the Hunter, who have all been strong advocates for greater investment in social and affordable housing.

We know that investment in social housing works, because we've already done it. Indeed, the former Labor government invested more than $5 billion in the construction of nearly 20,000 new social housing dwellings and repaired a further 80,000 existing public housing properties as part of its response to the global financial crisis. So, the way forward is clear. Now we have a golden opportunity not only to create jobs and drive economic activity but also protect an ever-growing number of vulnerable Australians. This is now in the hands of the government. Programs to build social housing are a long-term investment in a prosperous and fair society, but we need national leadership to make this happen. Will the Morrison government listen to the experts? Will it give up its addiction to transferring public wealth into private hands? Will it instead act in the national interest? It is time for this government to act. Everybody needs a home, Mr Morrison.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm happy to speak on this motion today because, as much as anything else, it highlights the cavernous divide in policy and aspiration that sits between those who sit on this side of the chamber and those who sit on the other side of the chamber. Make no mistake: we all believe—everyone in this chamber—that people should have a home, and that social housing is absolutely part of that mix. For people in crisis or in situations outside of their control, where they need assistance and help, it plays a critical part in providing the security people need at certain times of life. But the reality is that what we should be seeking is for social housing to be the exception and not the rule or the norm.

Housing plays a critical part in our country. In fact, I just wrote a whole book about that particular subject—called The New Social Contract, if anybody wants to read it—which makes the point that housing and homeownership is one of the foundations of Australian liberalism and the strength of this great country, a democratisation where people own their own homes and have them as an investment in the community and the country that converts their economic activity beyond themselves to support themselves and their families and ultimately the strength of this great nation. I say that in the context that housing is actually the most important investment that any person can have because of all the sociopolitical benefits and because of how it can be used as a vehicle to help people support their families. It remains, to me, a complete oddity that, particularly when we talk about issues like retirement, the most important thing in retirement is not to have a big superannuation balance. The most important thing in retirement is to own your own home, because, if you don't, you will pay higher rents and higher costs that continue to escalate while you retire versus those who own their own homes.

This motion draws the fundamental distinction between this government and the opposition, and it's not the first time we've seen this very clear distinction. Go back to 1949 and the election speeches of Ben Chifley and Robert Menzies, the then Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. At the time, Chifley talked about why we needed to use Commonwealth-state housing agreements as a pathway to get more people renting, and Menzies, as we do today, turned around and looked at how we should use those agreements to make more Australians homeowners. That was the foundation of so much of the economic opportunity and growth that we have as a nation. So, when there are disparaging remarks from those on the other side of the chamber, who talk about housing and how they want to get more people to be renters rather than owners, it shows that not much has changed, because in the end they know that homeownership empowers Australians to be able to pursue their own lives, their opportunities and their enterprise and support their families, but when they rent it suits the interests of centralised power and government, because ultimately people become dependent on the state.

Of course, we have a natural interest. In my last 60 seconds in this speech, I say that we have a natural interest in understanding how important it is to work with the social housing sector to support those people who are in crisis, and it can be part of a discussion about what we need to do to as part of the post-COVID recovery. But we should never accept the idea that social housing should become the norm. We should want homeownership to be the norm. The reality of the problem of needing more social housing is often a reflection on the private market, because if people cannot afford to buy their own home or rent at affordable prices in the marketplace then they turn to social housing. So our real objective should not be to produce more social housing; it should be to produce more housing—more private housing—and make it more affordable for Australians to be able to own their own home.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Newcastle on bringing this motion forward. I start with these words: 'With almost a million people losing their jobs, many people can no longer afford their rent. The current national shortfall of social housing is more than 433,000 properties, and it means that people who can't afford the rent in the private market can't get into social housing, and many are becoming homeless.' They're not my words; they're the words of Dr Eddie Jackson of the Liverpool City Council, speaking at the national Homelessness Week. I think he succinctly puts in perspective the distressing and desperate situation faced by many Australians today. According to the 2016 census, homelessness in Australia increased by 13.7 per cent in five years. That's approximately 116,000 Australians who experience homelessness on any given night. A housing crisis has been building up for years under this Liberal government because of its inaction. We're seeing the escalation and the seriousness of this situation now reaching such a state that the fight that we now have to fight off coronavirus is further impacting on homelessness.

While homelessness and housing instability are very real problems across the nation, they are particularly dire in my electorate, where we have an overrepresentation of disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals and families. According to analysis conducted by the Everybody's Home campaign, 1,700 people experienced homelessness in my electorate. In addition to that, there is a 5,400 shortfall in the social housing properties. Issues such as mental health, disability, unemployment, relationship breakdown, substance abuse, gambling, addiction and domestic violence can also put people at risk of homelessness. The risk of falling into homelessness is a real threat for these struggling families who've only been pushed further to the margins by mass job losses stemming from the challenges presenting from coronavirus.

For many low-income households in my community the lack of social rental housing has placed an enormous strain on families who are forced to pay unacceptably high costs for housing. The inadequate supply of affordable rental housing has led to an increased number of households having to pay more than a third of their income on rent alone. It is no wonder that my electorate topped the nation in terms of rental stress. Research from the University of New South Wales Everybody's Home campaign showed that 44 per cent of households in Fowler are living in rental stress. With the average household income in my electorate a little over $60,000, the great Australian dream of owning your own home will regrettably just remain that—a dream—for many of these families, given that they live from pay cheque to pay cheque. With many families struggling to afford the private rental market, the demand for affordable social housing is clearly being out stripped by supply.

There is no denying the fact that homelessness perpetuates a severe housing problem across the nation, which has only been exacerbated by the current pandemic. It's a critical issue that needs to be addressed at all levels of government. To this end, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the Mayor of Liverpool, Wendy Waller, and her team, who have been doing a terrific job in raising awareness about the need for greater social housing in our region. The council has participated in the Everybody's Home campaign, joining hundreds of organisations across the nation to call for the Morrison government to pledge its support to building social housing to create jobs and address the issue of homelessness. This is an initiative that was certainly wholeheartedly supported on our side. As a matter of fact, it was an initiative that Labor successfully implemented as a key economic driver during the global financial crisis. The benefits were twofold. Not only did we see the construction industry grow by 20,000, as it built new homes and renovated another 80,000 properties, but we saw the substantial benefits to the economy, creating jobs and improving the lives of many Australians. After all, access to affordable, safe, sustainable housing is a basic human right.

Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Newcastle for bringing forward this motion, in particular to ensure that stimulus measures are focused on delivering maximum ongoing public benefit and to give consideration to working with the private and community sectors and superannuation funds to invest in more social housing. There has been a great deal of talk and discussion about homelessness in the past month. As we know, national Homelessness Week was at the beginning of this month. Unfortunately, I have the unenviable achievement of having the largest amount of homelessness in my electorate, in regional New South Wales. That's something I'll come back to.

I acknowledge the work the federal coalition government is doing, has been doing and will continue to do in providing affordable housing. Every year, the federal government provides more than $6 billion in Commonwealth rent assistance and supports the states and territories to deliver social housing through the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, and the Morrison-McCormack government remains committed to this annually. There are other programs as well. There's the $118 million Reconnect program to support youth aged 12 to 18 years who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. That assists up to 8,000 young people every year. Recently we saw the $60 million Safe Places grant program provide social housing for women and children escaping domestic violence.

It's trite to say it, but we don't want to see people on the streets. Quite often when we talk about homelessness we think only about cities and metropolitan areas, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The statistic of 4,400 people in my electorate and overwhelming overrepresentation in Indigenous communities shows that we need to continue to address the issues of homelessness and social housing. As a former police officer of 12 years, I saw homelessness firsthand. There are many reasons why somebody could be homeless, including domestic violence and mental health. We need to provide a net to support people should they fall through the cracks.

The solution to reducing homelessness in our country is a matter for everyone. It's not just for the federal government or for the state government to address it; it's for all levels—local, state, federal—to address it and to work with multiple stakeholders in the community and the not-for-profit sector. Until we adopt that approach, we'll continue, year after year, to face the numbers that we see on the streets, whether they be in the cities or in regional and rural Australia. I recently spoke to representatives from Master Builders Australia and the Property Council about the Social Housing Acceleration and Renovation Program. That program is led by national peak bodies—the Community Housing Industry Association, Homelessness Australia, National Shelter and the national housing campaign Everybody's Home.

We want a bipartisan approach to this issue—it should not be just the coalition—and it shouldn't be used as a political football. We should talk about it. Some people will never be in a position to afford their own home because of the cards they have been dealt. It's all well and good for the government to provide strong economic policy—and prior to COVID-19 we were in a very strong fiscal position—but, unfortunately, things have changed. Moving forward, all levels of government, together, need to solve the social housing problem. (Time expired)

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A couple of weeks ago I and the member for Blaxland, who is the shadow housing minister, visited Laurie and Sandra Fraser in Malabar in my electorate. Laurie and Sandra have lived in public housing for over four decades, and they take great pride in their home and have raised their three children there. But Laurie and Sandra have a major issue with rampant mould, which is a concern for their health and their family's health. And it's not just them; others in the housing estate that they live in have the same issue. Laurie and Sandra have been onto the department of housing in New South Wales for four years to try and get this issue fixed, and no maintenance work has been undertaken. Unfortunately, their situation is not unique. This is happening across the whole of Australia. There is a massive backlog of maintenance associated with public housing in this country.

With the coronavirus recession, we now have a unique opportunity for the Morrison government to come up with a program that would work with the states to ensure we're investing in upgrades and fixing the maintenance problems that exist in social housing across Australia today. If we were to do this, it would provide much-needed jobs for tradies in the construction industry throughout the country, an industry that is facing its biggest downturn. It would also fix up important public assets and provide an improvement in the lifestyles and welfare of Australians who live in those public assets.

But the Morrison government have failed to recognise the need for the upgrade of social housing within our community and have missed the mark again. Their HomeBuilder scheme is poorly targeted, and the uptake rates across the country are woefully inadequate. The program won't provide the stimulus that the government said it would. It won't provide the jobs for tradies that this government said it would. Homelessness is on the rise in Australia, and Australians desperately need more and better social housing. This was true before the COVID crisis but it's all the more important now, given what's occurring.

It's time the federal government took responsibility to help the more than 140,000 Australians who are on the waiting list for social housing throughout this country. In New South Wales alone, there were 50,000 applicants on the New South Wales housing register at 30 June last year. But, given the widespread damage that the pandemic has wrought, we know this number will increase. We know that homelessness is going to increase in Australia as a result of this recession. Now is the time for the federal government to be working with the states to improve and upgrade public housing throughout the country. There is a five-year waiting list to get into public housing in the community that I represent.

We know that good access to secure housing is important in improving people's mental health. The Productivity Commission's draft report into mental health, released last October, highlighted the importance of non-health services, including housing, in preventing mental illness and in improving recovery. And we know that domestic violence and family violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and their children. Older women are the fastest growing group of homeless people in Australia. A report released by Housing for the Aged Action Group and Social Ventures Australia reveals that around 400,000 women over the age of 45 are at risk of homelessness in this country.

We know that there is a growing demand. We know that there is a need for more social housing in this country. We know that there is a need to fix the litany of maintenance issues that exist in social housing throughout this country. Yet the Morrison government continues to ignore the pleas of Australians who are saying it should come up with a program to fix the problems in social housing, to provide important jobs for tradies during this downturn and, more importantly, to improve the lives, health and safety of Australians throughout the country. The Morrison government must listen to the Australian people and come up with a program that improves social housing for the benefit of all.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Newcastle for raising this important issue of social housing. As we enter into our first recession in nearly 30 years, the issue of social and affordable housing is becoming increasingly acute. On 3 August I marked national homelessness day by taking a pledge to support more social housing, to create jobs and to help end homelessness.

In Warringah there are 500 homeless people and 1,300 in need of social housing. Nearly 120,000 Australians are without a home every night, and we fear the problem will get worse throughout this COVID pandemic. As the economic impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt, I, along with many of my colleagues in this place, am very concerned that this number could rise.

I urge the government to consider investment in social and affordable housing as a stimulus measure for the building sector. It will create many jobs and solve an important problem. I've met with various groups, including The Constellation Project, where one of my constituents is representing the lived experience of homeless people in a collaborative approach to solving homelessness. The project is being driven by the Australian Red Cross, the Centre for Social Impact, Mission Australia and PwC Australia and is seeking innovative approaches to addressing the issue.

Some are advocating, for example, for the creation of more homes through a variety of methods, including the development of mandatory inclusion zoning which mandates that new developments must factor in a portion of affordable housing to address supply. In the same way as we can look at community energy, of ways of involving community, there's also the proposal of looking at community investment into social housing as we do in other sectors to ensure this problem is addressed but the full burden of the funding does not completely fall on government. This is one of the many problems and maybe social cracks that we're finding coming to the fore as a result of the COVID pandemic.

I call on the government and on the Prime Minister to be agile, to pivot and adapt to what we see are the problems that are really coming to the fore. Australia is a strong and unbelievably lucky and beautiful country, but we do have some failings and we do have some cracks. We need to do our very best to make sure everyone has a home, everyone has somewhere to be safe and warm at night and that we take care of everyone in our community. Thank you to the member for Newcastle for this motion, and I urge the government to listen. Thank you.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is so important that we spend time talking about social housing in the middle of the first recession for 30 years—even more so—and I want to thank the member for Newcastle for bringing the debate to the House. You never hear the Morrison government proactively talking about social housing. It's not something they'll ever actually volunteer when they talk about housing. I was listening, I should admit—it's a rare admission—to the member for Goldstein when he spoke. I actually wrote a note of what he said—and I don't think I've ever done that before. He said, 'Our real objective should not be to produce more social housing'—at least there's a moment of honesty and clarity there—'it should be to produce more private housing.' That's it. Only two of the government's members got up to speak on this—an hour of debate and only two found their way into the chamber to speak. They're probably all back in their offices watching reruns of 60 Minutes, taking notes. You never hear the Morrison government talking about this unless it's to say it's someone else's problem like aged care, do you? There is a stubborn, arrogant, blind refusal to acknowledge that they have a degree of responsibility for this or to invest or to act. The truth is: it is everyone's problem in this country.

The waiting list nationally for social housing is over 150,000 people and rising. There's going to be a shortage, as the motion says, in the next 20 years of 433,000 social housing units. Other members have spoken about crumbling stock. Only a couple of weeks ago it was national Homelessness Week, and in my community this is personal. The people whom I represent have the highest rate of homelessness of any of the 38 electorates in Victoria outside the CBD. If you exclude the capital city electorates and the Northern Territory, we're in the top five in Australia. There are 1,800 homeless people, sleeping in cars, parks and car parks. It wouldn't surprise me if the government said, 'Well, they've got a roof over their head. They're okay.' The government's refusal to act hurts people that I represent.

The government says it's acting. It says it's got a minister now. It's an improvement on the Abbott-Turnbull governments, isn't it? They didn't even have a housing minister in those governments. The government says it's got a minister. There are two problems. He's the member for private housing; he only looks at one part of the problem. And, if you watch 60 Minutes, he doesn't seem to be doing much about housing, does he? The other problem is that they'll tell you that we have a housing package. It's actually a $688 million bathroom renovation scheme. It's the kind of housing package you have when you don't actually want a housing package.

When it comes to housing packages, size does matter. The government's $688 million renovation scheme is supposedly going to fill the gap in housing construction. Before the COVID crisis, we were building about 160,000 houses a year. That's slumped to around $100,000 or less. Yet the government's own scheme is only going to plug, maybe, at best, about 10,000 of that gap. What about the other 50,000? The member for Goldstein says the objective should be to provide more private housing. Well, you're not even doing that!

During the GFC—which the government now tells us, rightly, had a smaller economic impact and was a smaller economic crisis—the housing response by the Rudd-Gillard government was 10 times bigger. The Labor government then invested $5.6 billion to build 20,000 social housing units and renovate 80,000. That's 20,000 units that are still there today providing housing and shelter for people. So it is not just size that matters in your housing package; the focus matters, especially in this Prime Minister's recession.

The government now has a minister for private housing through his random private enrichment scheme. Really, it's just chucking money at people who were already going to do their renovations. You've read the media reports of builders saying: 'Don't worry, I'll jack up your quote by $20,000 so that you meet the criteria for the scheme. You'll get $25,000 back, and we'll order better bathroom fittings.' That's not doing anything for the economy. It's not creating jobs. It's importing more bathroom fittings perhaps, but it is not a housing policy or package.

The motion quite rightly calls on the government to actually invest—to commit something to social housing. It's a better stimulus than the package that they've got. It would create more jobs—it's a job creation plan—and it would go some way to addressing the desperate need, including in my community and right across the country, for more social housing. There are 110,000 people now homeless in Australia. It doesn't matter how much government members rabbit on with their fantasies about building more private housing. That's not going to address the 110,000 people who are homeless and have nowhere to sleep tonight. The government's package does nothing. I call on them to reconsider, to drop the arrogant, stubborn refusal of the Prime Minister, the marketing spin man, and actually commit something to social housing.

Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently, I had a Zoom meeting with the Seaford Housing Action Coalition. These are people in my community who are homeless or have experienced homelessness or just care about other people. On that Zoom call was a woman who is currently homeless. She was zooming me from her car. She's homeless because she's a victim of domestic violence. She's homeless because she doesn't have enough money to pay a bond to get into a private rental. She's homeless because we don't do enough in this country to help our fellow citizens who are in need.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts have been a painful illustration of how indivisible the health of the population and the health of the economy are. It's also given prominence to an age-old question: what is a good human life? What is a contributing human life? What do we as a community value? What do we, in this parliament, stand for? The tragedy of COVID-19 presents us with an opportunity to reconsider the way we measure our economic, social and environmental health. It presents us with an opportunity to say that, when there's investment from the federal government, we need to make sure it ticks three boxes. Firstly, it should be good for the economy, it should be stimulus, and it should help jobs be developed. Secondly, it should be good for the environment, for the future of not only our country but our planet. Thirdly, it should be good for social capital; it should be good for the community and the people that live in Australia. In my electorate, right now, there are about 600 people who are homeless. We have a shortfall of 3,000 social and public housing dwellings. We need investment in this country that is good for the economy. Social housing ticks that box. We need investment that is good for the environment. We can upgrade social housing with better electricity, with solar panels. Social housing ticks that box. We need investment that is good for people, and social housing ticks that box.

Recent research from Mission Australia, from before the pandemic, said that one in five Australians between the ages of 15 and 19 reported being homeless. Associated with that homelessness is an increase in mental health problems and thoughts of suicide. That's one in five Australians between the ages of 15 and 19. This is our opportunity, as a parliament and as a country, to say that everything we do, every investment we make, has to be good not just for economic growth and jobs but for the future of our people. That is exactly what social housing delivers. That's what the former Labor federal government delivered during the global financial crisis, with more than $5½ billion of investment in nearly 20,000 new social housing dwellings and the repair of more than 80,000 properties. That's what the Morrison government needs to do. Mr Morrison, as the Prime Minister, needs to sit at the national cabinet and drive a national strategy for social and public housing.

In the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, which I'm privileged to be on, we are looking at homelessness. We have had evidence about the Housing First model, which treats housing as a basic human right. People need safe, secure shelter to be a contributing member of society and to feel like they are valued by society. In my electorate of Dunkley, we have Wintringham and Haven; Home, Safe. They are two organisations that are providing social housing for vulnerable people in need. We know from studies conducted by the ANU and other experts that significant numbers of Australians are suffering from rental stress because of COVID-19. We have a rental ticking timebomb coming our way. The member for Goldstein and others might like to talk about Australians owning houses, but many people, like the woman I spoke to who was zooming me from her car, are not dreaming at the moment about owning a house. They're dreaming of having a roof over their head. This government needs to invest in social housing, and it needs to do it now.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Newcastle for bringing forward this motion. She has been advocating for an expansion of public housing in Australia throughout her time in parliament, and that continues today. I had the opportunity to speak about social and public housing in June, on a matter of public importance. Two months later, Labor is still calling for this government to get its act together with a proper plan to put roofs over people's heads and create jobs. Put simply, given the massive need for government stimulus in our ailing economy, the Morrison government must build and upgrade the public housing, social housing and affordable housing stock across Australia.

When I spoke on this issue in June, the government had just announced its HomeBuilder program. The lack of ambition in this plan is staggering: $688 million for the wealthiest fifth of Australians to renovate their houses in ways that they were already doing. Compare that to Labor's $5.6 billion investment in social housing when the global financial crisis hit. The Morrison government has provided one-tenth of the housing construction stimulus that Labor delivered during the GFC, despite the fact that the impact of the COVID-19 downturn will dwarf the impact of the GFC. I can't think of a better summation of the difference in ideology between a coalition government and a Labor government. In crisis, Labor stands up for all Australians and ensures that our most vulnerable and least well off—those who need it most—are supported. In crisis, this government does what it can to pass the buck, and that is what it is doing now.

The pandemic has made it clearer than ever that safe and secure housing is fundamental to the health and safety of human beings. Our homes have become our sanctuaries. But, of course, you can't quarantine or isolate if you don't have a home. You can't quarantine or isolate if your home isn't safe. For the 140,000 Australians on social housing waiting lists across Australia, their ability to quarantine or isolate is not guaranteed. For those living in dilapidated social housing, their ability to quarantine or isolate in safe and secure housing is not guaranteed. We saw this in the bushfires as well—that the most vulnerable are less able to cope—with the health impacts of the smoke crisis we had here in Canberra, where people living in public housing couldn't afford to air-condition their homes and were staying in homes that, frankly, were not safe.

In the face of the first Australian recession in 30 years, Labor has called on the coalition government to stimulate the COVID affected economy by building social housing. Our shadow minister for housing and homelessness, Jason Clare, the member for Blaxland, called on the Morrison government to do several things, but the top two were (1) construct more social housing and (2) repair and maintain existing social housing. This is exactly what needs to be done. The OECD has urged the government to do this. The Grattan Institute has urged the government to do this. ACOSS have called for it. Homelessness Australia, National Shelter, Community Housing Industry of Australia—the list goes on. The people who know about social housing know that it is underfunded and that responding to the social housing shortfall will massively stimulate the economy.

Now the Master Builders Association have released forecasts that show that, instead of building 175,000 homes this financial year, only 125,000 homes will be built. This is a significant drop. Further, the Master Builders Association have shown that the HomeBuilder scheme has increased this shortfall by only 10,000 properties. Where is the government's ambition, where is their plan, to save the thousands of jobs that will go from the building and construction industry without adequate stimulus? Building and renovating social and public housing should be the Morrison government's plan. Subsidising renovations and builds that are already happening does not stimulate the economy. Instead, the government could be delivering on two critical objectives: stimulating jobs growth and creating more social housing.

Another way the government could do this is by waiving the public housing debts for states and territories, like here in the ACT. Our ACT government is making the largest investment per capita in social housing in the country, and that was before COVID-19. They have also now committed to building 260 new public housing dwellings if they form government at the October election, but they have said they could do even better if the federal government waived those debts. Unlike this federal government, their priorities are in the right place. The priorities of this government should be housing for our most vulnerable and creating jobs, as we try for recovery of the economy.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Newcastle for bringing this very important motion to the House. The Morrison government want to talk about stimulus. They want to talk about recovery. They want to make sure builders and tradies can keep their jobs. I agree, absolutely, with that. But what I don't agree with is the solution put forward by those opposite—giving cash handouts to people who can afford $150,000 renovations, while not spending a single dollar on social housing. That is no solution. Not only would investing in social and affordable housing create local jobs and stimulate our economy; investing in housing also reduces health costs, reduces costs for our justice system and protects those who are less fortunate.

During the global financial crisis, Labor spent $5.6 billion on building new social housing. We committed to 100,000 National Rental Affordability Scheme dwellings, built 21,000 new social housing dwellings and repaired a further 80,000. One of the big challenges of COVID-19 has been finding appropriate housing for people living rough on our streets. We have housed them in hotels and temporary accommodation—very necessary and welcome—but why aren't we looking for a long-term solution? If the government were serious about fixing the homelessness problem in Australia, they would be investing in affordable housing projects in our regional communities right now.

My electorate on the New South Wales South Coast is a good place to start. According to a South Coast Register article published in September last year, over 1,000 applicants for social housing from Kiama to Ulladulla will be forced to wait more than five years for a home. Some will even be waiting more than 10 years, including those looking for a three-bedroom home in Nowra or Bomaderry, those looking for a two-bedroom home in Kiama or anyone looking for somewhere in Huskisson. That's struggling local families waiting 10 years for help. That is simply not good enough.

It doesn't have to be this way. There are social-housing projects in my electorate ready to get off the ground right now, if only the government would invest in them. As just one example, Shoalhaven City Council has already identified a site for its affordable-housing project in Bomaderry. It is close to services and public transport. It is also an area of high need. We know there are so many people in the Nowra-Bomaderry area waiting for homes. In 2017 the council even engaged the Illawarra chapter of the Property Council of Australia to develop plans for the affordable-housing project at this site. The Property Council provided insight from architects, planners, developers and property surveyors—all for free. Only two months ago the council agreed that Southern Cross Housing will be provided the land and buildings when it is finished. The project is moving forward.

It seems that absolutely everyone can see the value in investing in affordable housing. So why won't the federal government step up and provide funding support so that local families can finally get a roof over their heads? Only three weeks ago we marked national Homelessness Week. Coincidentally it was around the same time my community experienced some extreme weather—freezing temperatures, wind, rain and flood. It was hard not to be struck by the injustice of it all: drawing attention to homelessness while, at the same time, picturing people sleeping rough in the bush, the rain and the cold. No-one should have to live like that.

The government needs to sort out its priorities. The much hyped HomeBuilder program is not helping those who need it. It isn't helping people impacted by bushfire, it isn't helping people impacted by flood and it isn't helping local people sleeping rough. The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has identified a shortfall of 433,000 social housing dwellings over the next 20 years. In June 2018, across Australia, we had 140,000 Australians on social housing waiting lists. In my electorate, families are waiting 10 years for a home. We simply must urgently invest in social and affordable housing in our regional and rural areas, just like the project in Bomaderry. We absolutely can stimulate our economy, create local jobs and work towards a recovery from a year of drought, bushfires, flood and COVID-19 while also helping those who need it most. We know that investing in housing will deliver the maximum ongoing public benefit to communities on the South Coast—more than giving $25,000 to people renovating their homes ever could. We simply must start now.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.