Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a real pleasure to be able to work together in this place to come up with some recommendations that will go before us as a parliament—not just us as a government—to look at such an important issue as housing affordability. I want to pay particular credit to the way that the Senate Select Committee on Housing Affordability was able to operate and the way that people were prepared to cooperate during the process. I know it has been a particularly difficult and busy time for many members of the Senate, and we were constantly juggling time frames and calendars to allow us to continue to operate. I want to thank the other members of the committee for allowing that to occur and for the respect that was shown to people’s requirements in that process. With Senator Hutchins, we were able to share the workload for the government in this process and we were able to meet with an amazing range of people across the country.

We had the privilege of working and meeting with people who felt that it was important to come and talk to the Senate about the issues of housing affordability. We heard from a whole range of people—people who were in the development area, people who were in the construction area, people who worked in community housing, people who were seeking some support as they were making decisions about what was the right way for them to proceed in this area, and finance providers. We are blessed—and I use the term ‘blessed’ quite deliberately—by the range of the academic researchers that we have in this country in every state. What made me particularly pleased was that the amount of research that is currently being done across the area shows that there are people with amazing knowledge and commitment and the intent that they will be able to use their knowledge, their academic ability and their research facilities to come up with solutions to the housing issues not only in Australia but also across the world, through the various research bodies. That gave us the confidence that, within our community, there are people prepared to work on this issue, people who are generous with their time and with their professional knowledge and who are also prepared to cooperate.

There are many recommendations, and I really encourage people to read the report. It is a big one. Do not be intimidated by the size. It looks a bit like a house brick, but do not be intimidated by the size or the number of recommendations—look at the value of the issue. One of the major recommendations was to look at further research. That is something that I am bringing to the attention of this chamber and the government. This is an area where the research must be maintained. The knowledge is there and the experience is there, and we need to develop genuine processes and guidance for us to move into the future.

Other people have mentioned the particular things that jumped out for them. I know Senator Siewert and other members of the committee were particularly taken with the area of community housing. I am sure that they will mention that, so I will not go into that area, though I think we will take the opportunity at other times in this place to continue our discussion of this issue. Whilst the original terms of reference looked particularly at the issues of housing, land and affordability, what came out of the range of evidence before us was the experience of people who were looking at addressing housing needs and housing availability in innovative ways and not always through the traditional models.

The model of people purchasing a house and staying in that home until they retired or moved on was mentioned consistently throughout the evidence. What we found through our evidence was that there are various models of appropriate housing. The term ‘appropriate’ came up across the board. It is not just about matching people with a house; it is actually about looking at people’s needs and their differences and coming up with appropriate models to ensure that people have dignity, respect and choice. This widens the discussion from just housing affordability. We need to ensure that people have options regarding the kind of housing that is available. That goes back to working with land developers and through the maze of different state and local government rules and regulations. A significant part of the report looks at the areas of regulation and cost. Looking at those costing areas was one of the key terms of reference for our group. When you do take the time to read the report, there is very valuable information there about how the costings are arrived at, the different trends in costings and what makes up the variation in housing affordability across our country.

No-one can run away from the point that it is more expensive to access appropriate housing now than it has been in the past. That is a given. But we cannot just let that lie without assessing exactly what those expenses are made up of and what alternatives there could be. We as a government can work effectively with the range of people who are interested in bringing their expertise to this discussion and break down those traditional models to ensure that people have choice. We need to have a look at that particularly valuable word ‘appropriate’. That is not a judgement. That is something that we can work to achieve. Your housing needs at different times in your life will vary, but the most important thing is that, in Australia, we as the government accept that people will need support to be able to make effective choices.

The Australian government has made a commitment, and it has been reinforced in the report. The budget announcement of $2.2 billion for new investments is a very valuable start to that process. We did look in some detail at the Housing Affordability Fund. I think the fact that the government has come up with a budget initiative called a Housing Affordability Fund indicates that there is a need that has been identified, and we will work towards that. What this Housing Affordability Fund—the $512 million—will do is get people involved in looking at a variety of ways that people can move into effective housing and how housing can be made genuinely affordable. ‘Affordable’ does not mean cheap; ‘affordable’ means something that you can make decisions about in your budget and be able to plan to achieve a housing solution.

The National Rental Affordability Scheme was not particularly part of our terms of reference, but we cannot have a discussion about housing in this country without looking at the issues around rental. For many people in Australia, rental housing will be their choice and it will be the best choice for them. I think sometimes there is a bit of a cultural cringe around that issue, and we talked about this idea in the committee at length. People who for various reasons have chosen to rent may well be made to feel then that they have somehow failed and that, despite their achievements through their work or providing help to their families, because they are in the rental market, they have not been successful. I think that is one of the myths we did explode in this process. There are people who will require affordable rental housing, and they range from people who have special needs all the way to people who make choices within their budget about the role of renting.

I am very pleased that our committee looked at the role of public and social housing. I understand that the terminology has now changed. What in my past life I had been led to believe was considered public housing is now talked about as social housing. But there is no doubt that there was agreement that there needs to be a major overhaul of our social housing, and that responsibility must be shared. This is an area where state governments, the federal government and, in some places, local governments will need to work together to ensure that social housing is well planned, effective consultation takes place with the people who are using it and there is a plan for the future. You do not make these plans on a 10-year basis; you make them for a lifetime. One of the things we will learn is how that is to happen.

There was significant discussion in the committee about the availability of land. I do not think anyone who was on the committee will ever look at land in the same way again. I know that now, as a result of these hearings, when I am moving through parts of Australia I am looking around at land costs and the cost of infrastructure and debating who will be able to put that land through most effectively. I hope I move through this stage of my career; nonetheless, I think it has been very valuable.