Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Under Labor's housing and rental crisis, average rents have gone up nearly $100 a week and mortgages $200, while Labor spends billions of dollars a year pushing house prices out of reach of first-home buyers with tax handouts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. You said Labor has changed on tax cuts because of economic pressures. Will you now also act on unfair negative gearing and capital gains tax handouts to help fix Labor's housing crisis, or do people have to win a lottery to get a home under Labor's plan?

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

I thank the member for Melbourne for his question, which goes to Labor's position on housing. We have consistently said, including to the Greens political party, that the key to the solution for housing in this country is housing supply. That is why our measures have been comprehensive and across the board. When it comes to tax changes, we made tax changes in the budget for our build-to-rent scheme that will result in between 150,000 and 250,000 additional private sector dwellings being built. In addition to that, of course, we have our considerable support for social housing, our Social Housing Accelerator we announced and delivered to states and territories last June of $2 billion, which has already resulted in $500 million of investment in the honourable member's home state of Victoria, including substantial refurbishment of public housing that was dilapidated and falling apart and unoccupied in sections of the member's own electorate. We have been prepared to take this strong action, which is so important.

In addition to that, we have our housing agreement with state and territory governments that will see a target of 1.2 million homes being built over the next decade, including with an incentive scheme like the old national competition payment scheme to encourage higher and medium density housing where appropriate in our urban communities. And I look forward to the Greens political party councillors at my local council, as I do, supporting higher density in areas such as along Parramatta Road in Sydney. Because that is how you fix it—higher densities around transport corridors, around areas like Parramatta Road in Sydney, that has been dilapidated, that has been subject to increased crime because there simply isn't people around those communities at night. I'd be shocked if Greens councillors actually vote for medium density or affordable housing, but I look forward to it.

They're the sorts of measures that we want in place to make a big difference. I also look forward to the Greens senators and members voting for our Help to Buy scheme, which will include—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Deakin is warned.

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

to provide an incentive for people to be able to get into private homeownership, which the member says is his objective.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a result of continual interjections, on a warning, the member for Fisher will leave the chamber.

The member for Fisher then left the chamber.