Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Last week I visited Nathan, living in appalling conditions in his public housing unit which represented a health risk to his family for seven months. As a result of media attention, Nathan has now moved to a three-bedroom home with a backyard. This is a good thing, but why did the budget provide no funding for the maintenance of public housing to create immediate jobs and improve the lives of people like Nathan and his family?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. In the budget this year, the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation increased its facility to $3 billion. This is a facility that has been established under this corporation. It was established while I was Treasurer. An important part of its job is to support the work that is done by community housing organisations and to partner with state governments so they can ensure that there are more projects for housing development for both affordable and social housing across this country. We're doing our part when it comes to that responsibility to ensure that the finance is available at low cost to ensure that these joint venture projects can occur.

It is true that the state governments build public housing. It is their responsibility to do that and they should. I am pleased to say, whether it was the Western Australian budget or the announcements made by the New South Wales government, that they are doing some things in those areas, and I welcome them doing things in those areas. It was in fact the Reserve Bank governor, as the Treasurer will know, when he was briefing the national cabinet and otherwise who said, 'It's important for Commonwealth and state governments to be particularly investing in the recovery from the COVID-19 recession.' Just over 2½ per cent or thereabouts of the gross state product was being invested by state governments at that time when the Reserve Bank governor actually noted that on social housing projects, an area that state governments are responsible for, states should be doing more. I agree with him. I agree with the Reserve Bank governor—

Ms Plibersek interjecting —

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney will cease interjecting.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and I applaud the state governments that are doing more, because it has been the federal government that have invested over 15 per cent of the size of our economy—$101 billion alone—to do what is our responsibility, to stand with those in jobs and to keep them in jobs as part of our JobKeeper program. So the federal government have been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to supporting Australians during this crisis. We continue to call on state governments to do more in the areas that the member has particularly outlined.