Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Community Services (Senator Scullion) to questions without notice asked by Senators Webber and Campbell today relating to housing affordability.

In the main issue of housing affordability, Australians do not have a government that runs on sound economic principles, with rigorous policy development processes working for the benefit of Australian working families. We do have a government that has one guiding principle and one guiding principle only—that is, the marketing spin of its research agency, Crosby Textor. It is a government that will do anything, say anything and spend any amount to win office in the forthcoming election. It is a government desperately manufacturing lines and policies on the run in an attempt to create an agenda. We see that when it goes to its own backbench and says: ‘There is a whiteboard. What we want are some good ideas about housing affordability.’ It is too late. Time is too short. It is a short-termism that is typical of this government. It is not a way of engaging with your backbench. It demonstrates that the government does not have any policy and does not have any ability to lead the debate on housing affordability. Instead, it wants to simply jot down ideas on a whiteboard and then wipe them off after the next election.

We have a government that is more interested in spin. It does not respect the difficulty that working families are facing out in the community. It is not mindful of the struggles and challenges that working families have to meet every day. Let us look at the evidence. Over the last few weeks we have seen the attempts of the Prime Minister to promote himself as a strong man. The government mentioned today how he is out there in a strong way. But what he is doing is a furphy. He is aggressively attacking the states but as proxies for the opposition. We have seen the truth come out, though. It is about pork-barrelling and largesse reaching new levels from this government. It knows only one way, and that one way is to spend its way out of a problem. It has done that every time. You see that with phrases like ‘aspirational nationalism’. It tries to come up with phrases to jag the public’s interest. Stop the rot. Do not try to find phrases like ‘aspirational nationalism’ to get people’s attention. Come up with a good policy. Come up with a proper approach. Come up with something other than short-termism, something other than the most ugly and clumsy juxtaposition of ideas and language since the Prime Minister brought us ‘incentivisation’ back in 1987.

What we do know from Crosby Textor is that Howard will play a brand of federalism politics that is likely neither to work nor to endure as a template for government. Working families are juggling work commitments, increased consumer prices and increased uncertainty about their working conditions. They are worried about their children in the workplace as well. They are worried about how they are going to afford their houses. They are worried about how they are going to get to work, because this government has not built critical infrastructure. They are worried about how they are going to compete in the marketplace. They are worried about how they are going to ensure that all of those matters are addressed. This government has not invested in significant broadband services. In fact, all this government has done is find a label to stick across everything.

The Prime Minister said that people have never been better off, but it is reported in the press that people are struggling and losing their houses because this government does not care. The research shows that the number of households enduring mortgage stress will rise above 600,000 in the coming months. The Australian Mortgage Industry Report, from Fujitsu Australia and JPMorgan, reveals that 138,000 families may be forced to give up their homes because of mortgage stress. This is how out of touch this 11-year-old government has become. It is out of touch and does not care. As working families tighten their belts, this government embarks on a spending spree which is devoid of any purpose other than keeping Mr and Mrs Howard in Kirribilli House. Senator Minchin summed it up some time ago. In terms of the industrial relations debate, they do not want to tell us what they are going to do or provide any future direction— (Time expired)