Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Housing and Homelessness. How is Labor's Homes for Australia plan helping address the housing pressures Australians face, and what is standing in the way?

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Blair is right: Australians are doing it tough right now and housing is a big part of that story. I've been the minister in this portfolio now for two weeks, and I am very honoured to progress the enormously important work of the member for Franklin in her time in this role. I have spent a lot of time since I became minister speaking to people who are directly affected by this problem. I have spoken to a mum with a child with disability who has been forced to move house in the middle of her child's school year. I have spoken to renters whose landlords will not fix black mould in their homes and whose rents are rising too often and too fast. I have spoken to a lot of young people who are worried that they will be locked out of home ownership forever, and I have spoken to a woman who was a victim of long-term homelessness and talked to her about how housing is helping her rebuild her life.

Our country today is led by a prime minister whose entire life trajectory was reshaped by secure housing and, unsurprisingly, we have a bold and ambitious housing agenda. For the first time in a decade, we have a Commonwealth government in this country saying, 'We have responsibilities here and we can make a difference to this problem.' The Commonwealth can't solve this problem alone, but it is not going to get solved without us. That is why our government, in just two years in office, has invested $32 billion in helping Australians with this crisis.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear some murmurs from those opposite, and I will remind them that our government invested more just in our last budget than in the entire nine years that those opposite where in office. Our government also recognises that we have a good long-term solution to this problem but we are in crisis right now. That is why our government has made the biggest increase to Commonwealth rent assistance in 30 years—two back-to-back increases to Commonwealth rent assistance that will see Australians get up to 40 per cent increases on those payments.

We have two really important initiatives that are part of the puzzle here sitting in the Senate—one which will help more low-income Australians get into the housing market and one which will help build more rental homes for our country. Would you believe that both of these initiatives are being blocked by the Liberals and the Greens in the Senate? One of my observations is that there is a hell of a lot of politics being played in this debate by people who are seeking to get a political outcome. My goal and the government's goal in this debate is to make sure that we focus not on the politics, not on the politicians and not on the personalities but on the fact that we have a generations-long housing crisis in this country—and our government is here to help.