Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Albanese Labor government investing in building more homes and making housing more affordable for Australians, and what obstacles are standing in the way?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Macnamara is a real champion for renters and first home buyers in his beautiful, vibrant part of Melbourne. I thank him for the question.

Housing is one of the defining challenges in our economy. It's one of the substantial pressures on people right now, and that's why it is a big priority of the government to address this challenge.

When we came to office, as the COVID report laid bare, the housing construction pipeline was a mess. The report that the health minister and I released made really clear that HomeBuilder was pulling demand forward and adding to inflation while supply chains weren't up to scratch. Partly because of that and partly because of other pressures, we just don't have enough homes in our communities, and that is putting pressure on costs and it is putting pressure on those communities.

Rents have been one of the biggest drivers of inflation but they would be higher still were it not for the two substantial increases in rent assistance that we have delivered as a government. These challenges in the housing market didn't just pop up in May 2022 and they will take time to sort out, but we are doing our bit as a government. We are investing more in housing than any government ever has, more than 10 times what those opposite invested in almost 10 years. This commitment to investment in housing is a tribute to ministers O'Neil and Collins, the Prime Minister and others.

In our first budget we had the Housing Australia Future Fund, Help to Buy and the housing accord; in our second budget, tax breaks for Build to Rent; in our third budget, tackling infrastructure bottlenecks; in the last two budgets, increases to rent assistance, and big investments in skills at every opportunity. That is because we have an ambitious target to build 1.2 million homes in five years. It will be hard but we can get there if everyone does their bit, and we are doing our bit. The states need to do their bit, as do the local governments, the peak groups, the builders, the investors, and there is a role for the Senate as well, as we know, this week. We call on the senators to pass our Build to Rent changes this week.

If those opposite really cared about housing and the cost of living they would support this investment. But we know they are a risk to housing because we know their record. They made a mess of the pipeline, they voted against more homes and they cut investment in housing at the worst possible time. We know from their behaviour today and in the Senate this week that the biggest risk to housing and the biggest risk to household budgets is a coalition government.

This side of the House is getting inflation down and wages up, we are strengthening Medicare and building more homes, and we welcome the progress made in the Senate this week in that light.