Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my area of the New South Wales North Coast we have a housing and homelessness crisis. It was in place for quite a period of time, and it was all made so much worse by our devastating floods last year. There are so many people who have nowhere to live and who are desperate for a home. We need action.

That's why in the lead-up to the election last year, Labor committed to our $10 billion housing fund. We were elected on this platform to deliver this vital housing reform. But it's being blocked by the Greens in this parliament, and that's disgraceful. They go out and talk about housing. Here's their opportunity to do something about it, and they refuse to. This is a big warning to our community that they can never ever risk supporting the Greens political party because they're blocking affordable housing for people on the North Coast who need it. The fact is that the Greens are teaming up with the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation—all of them—to block our multibillion dollar efforts to fix the nation's housing crisis. Look at the contrast here. On one side you have Labor, the teals and Independents all fighting to fix this crisis; on the other side, the Greens, the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation are all opposing it. It is disgraceful.

Our housing fund is the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in over a decade. It is massive. Because the Greens refuse to support this legislation, they're directly delaying 30,000 people getting access to social and affordable housing. That includes 4,000 women fleeing domestic and family violence. It is absolutely shameful. While so many people in my area are living in their cars because they can't find decent housing, the Greens are just playing politics here in the federal parliament.

And, as the Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, I hear from so many people who need to have this bill passed, who need to have these houses built. I hear every day from members in my community who are appalled that parties in our parliament, including the Greens, are doing this to them, playing these political games. In response to that, I've launched a petition calling on the Greens to stop blocking affordable housing on the North Coast.

When we look at the Greens, they have a disgraceful history in teaming up with the Liberals and Nationals. We all remember, in 2009, when they teamed up with them to block the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. And then, in 2015, they teamed up again with the Liberals and Nationals to limit access to the age pension. And now, in 2023, they're stopping locals accessing housing they desperately need. In contrast to all of these games we constantly see from the Greens, I'm really proud to be my community's strong voice in this parliament fighting for them. I have always done that, and I will continue to do that. I call upon locals to please sign this petition. The Greens need to hear it. They need to stop teaming up with the Liberals and Nationals, and on an issue like this, where people have nowhere to live, it is absolutely disgraceful. They should be ashamed of themselves, because our community needs housing now.