Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mortgage stress is hitting Western Sydney residents hard. It's a top issue for many Lindsay constituents who have faced interest rate rise after interest rate rise time and time again. In August last year, Otivo released its Mortgage stress report, which showed that almost every mortgage property in Colyton, St Marys, North St Marys and Oxley Park in Lindsay were facing mortgage stress. In other parts of my electorate, around half of mortgage holders were in mortgage stress, including in Glenmore Park, Mulgoa, Emu Plains, Cranebrook and Londonderry. Imagine the pain these Western Sydney families are feeling right now. There have been six rate rises since Otivo's report. In fact, there have been nine successive rate rises under this Albanese Labor government.

We are in the grips of a cost-of-living crisis. Lindsay locals are tightening their household budgets when it comes to the weekly grocery shop. I've had constituents telling me they simply cannot afford registration fees, new footie boots and petrol to get to and from their kids' weekend sport commitments. This is heartbreaking. Western Sydney is at the coalface of this cost-of-living crisis, and the Albanese government needs to provide actual solutions now.