Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government working to comprehensively address housing issues in our country, and has there been any opposition to this?

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

I thank the member for Corangamite for her question. Indeed, we have a comprehensive plan. Our $32 billion Homes for Australia Plan is about increased supply of social and affordable housing and about increased support for people who are renting, with increased rental assistance in the last two budgets.

In addition to that, of course, we want more Australians to own their own homes. We have a plan to build 1.2 million homes by the end of the decade. We're training more tradies, we're funding more infrastructure and we're delivering more social housing, and we are seeing results. We have helped 120,000 people into homeownership sooner, twice as many as occurred under the former government.

And this week two of our most important measures will be voted on in the Senate. Just before, Help to Buy passed the Senate with the support of everyone except for the coalition and One Nation. We think this will help 40,000 Australians on low incomes to buy their first home, getting more affordable rentals on the market. We would have helped those 40,000 Australians a year ago if those opposite weren't standing in the way, and now they have promised to get rid of it if they are elected to office. So first they stood in the way, and now they say they'll take it away. That's their approach to increased homeownership. Australians could have been in those homes right now, but they just said, 'No, no, no,' like a broken record.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

The Labor government that I'm proud to lead is turning promises into progress, delivering for every generation and delivering for every Australian. Those opposite just want to get in the way. I'll give you the big tip for those interjecting. Being reckless builds nothing. Being arrogant gets you nowhere. My government is determined to get things done. Those opposite, on the very day that the Senate has passed Help to Buy, are promising to take it away. They not only don't want to progress; if they ever occupy the treasury bench, what they want to do is to actually take Australia backwards and undo progress which is made, even though we know that shared-equity schemes have been successful in states and when carried out by other governments overseas. It's based upon a program that has operated effectively in Western Australia for many, many decades.

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

Before I call the member for Brisbane: the member for Deakin needs to cease interjecting, because he is now on a warning. I want to make sure he stays for question time, so he can work with me on that to make sure he remains, or, if he wants to interject, he won't remain.