Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness. How is the Albanese Labor government's Homes for Australia Plan delivering cost-of-living relief, and what risky alternatives could threaten this support?

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank our terrific member for Boothby. It was great to join her in Adelaide last week—indeed, in Tonsley—where we announced 350 new and improved homes for more than 600 South Australians. That announcement, of course, came one day after we announced more than a hundred new homes in Melbourne in the member for Jagajaga's electorate. Both of these projects and announcements came from our Social Housing Accelerator—the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator. It is just one part of our $32 billion Homes for Australia Plan.

Our plan will help deliver more homes more quickly in more parts of Australia. We know that Australia doesn't have enough homes, and we haven't had enough homes for a long time. That is why we need our $32 billion Homes for Australia Plan. Our plan includes the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, the single biggest investment in social and affordable housing in more than a decade.

The fund is also helping to deliver the Veterans' Acute Housing Program, with applications now open, as my colleague the Minister for Veterans' Affairs also announced last week in Adelaide. We are working hard to tackle the challenges of housing in this country and the challenges we inherited from those opposite. We know that you deliver real cost-of-living relief not by pushing up energy prices with nuclear reactors but by working every day to deliver more homes for the people of Australia.

I remind those opposite that the Housing Australia Future Fund was delayed for six months, thanks to those opposite and when they paired up with the Greens. They voted against it in this place. The first tender round of the Housing Australia Future Fund closed recently. It received hundreds of applications for tens of thousands of new homes. We'll be announcing the successful tenders in coming months, and I'll remind those opposite, when these announcements come, that they voted against this Housing Australia Future Fund. All they have on their side is their reheated thought bubble for housing—the super for housing—which we know will push up prices, wreck people's super and doesn't build a single home.

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

The member for Deakin is on a warning.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It seems those opposite are happy to put billions of dollars on the table for nuclear reactors but not one single dollar for one new home—

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

The minister will pause. I just reminded the member for Deakin that he's on a warning, and he continues to interject, so he'll leave the chamber under 94(a). Try and help me help you.

The member for Deakin then left the chamber.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a shame that the member for Deakin is leaving, because he was responsible for those challenges in housing that we inherited. They've got no policies other than their super for housing, the reheated thought bubble, as I said before—not one new dollar for one new home. Their plan will push up housing prices, while we're getting on with delivering new homes for Australians that need them. We want to see more help for homebuyers, we want to see more help for renters and we want to see more help for Australians that need a safe place to stay each night.