Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition (Social and Community Affairs)) Share this | Hansard source

My question without notice today is to Senator Scullion, representing the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Is the minister aware that nearly 6,000 families in New South Wales have lost their home since the start of 2006 because they were unable to meet their mortgage repayments? Aren’t 90 households in New South Wales losing their homes every week in 2007 for this same reason? What advice does the minister have for working families who face the risk of losing their homes as a result of nine interest rate rises in a row? Don’t these rate hikes mean that families are now paying $430 extra each month on a $300,000 mortgage compared to before interest rates started going up? How could the government have broken its 2004 promise to these families to keep interest rates at record lows?