Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How will the Housing Australia Future Fund help build a better future and make sure there are more homes for more Australians?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Jagajaga for her question and for her support and engagement on this issue. We know that this is a big victory for Australians who need a home. It's a victory. It will mean more houses for more people. This is a commitment that arose from my second budget reply and that we took to the election: a fund worth $10 billion that will provide at least $500 million each and every year for social and affordable housing: social housing for people who need it to bring down those waiting lists and affordable housing for essential workers.

In addition to that, of the 30,000 homes, 4,000 will be reserved for women and children escaping domestic violence. We know each and every night too many women and their kids have to search for somewhere to stay. They stay on someone's lounge, or they stay in a park, or they stay in their car, because there simply isn't enough emergency housing around. That will be important. In addition to that, $100 million of the funding will go to emergency housing to provide that support.

In addition to that, we'll provide funding for remote Indigenous housing. We know that much of it is dilapidated and in a condition that is completely unacceptable. This will provide funding for that.

In addition to that, it will have a Housing Supply and Affordability Council, bringing together Commonwealth, state and local government and the private sector on how we drive that supply through so that we achieve the objective of the 1.2 million homes that we need. In addition to that, we have gotten together with state and territory governments for the most significant set of housing reforms in a generation—that new national target, with the incentive of $3 billion for states and territories to reform their planning laws so that we can get more homes built in more locations in our cities and in our regions.

This is absolutely critical going forward. It's an example of a policy that we developed in opposition, took into government and are making sure is delivered. I thank all of the crossbenchers in both the House and the Senate for their support for this. As usual, the opposition decided to say no, as they always do to everything. They are the blockers; we on this side of the chamber are the builders. They are the great wreckers of Australian politics, who exclude themselves from participation because they just say no. They just say no to everything that comes before this House. We have a positive plan that we're implementing. (Time expired)