Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

At the very outset, I'd like to say that Labor supports the National Rental Affordability Scheme Amendment Bill 2019. In fact, the National Rental Affordability Scheme, or NRAS, as it's commonly known, is another proud achievement of previous Labor governments in the social policy and, particularly, housing space, because NRAS was actually set up by federal Labor when we were in government in 2008. Under the scheme, investors were provided with 10-year contracts through both state and federal funding, and rent was provided at 20 per cent below market rate to vulnerable Australians. Unfortunately, when the Abbott government came to power, they cut all new funding for the scheme and capped the scheme at 38,000 dwellings. They also didn't replace this scheme with anything else.

But, of course, as we all know, the housing affordability problem has not gone away over that period of time. In fact, homeownership rates are now at the lowest level we've seen in 50 years in this country. More Australians are behind in their mortgages than at any time since the global financial crisis. Rental stress is through the roof. More Australians are now homeless than ever before. This is a crisis that this government seems to be largely ignoring.

A report that came out last week from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that, over the last 10 years, we've lost more than 20,000 public housing units. Social housing construction hasn't kept pace with the growth in households. A quarter of the new public housing tenants in 2017-18 who were classified as 'in greatest need' had been on the waiting list for more than 12 months, and 13 per cent had been waiting longer than two years.

This bill makes a number of improvements to the existing NRAS that we on the Labor side support. In particular, it improves protections for tenants and investors. It ensures that any payments to investors are done in a timelier manner to ensure NRAS stock is not withdrawn from the scheme. It also removes ambiguity in relation to the calculation of below-market rents in any one year, and it provides flexibility in the way maximum periods of vacancy are prescribed.

This bill was examined by a parliamentary inquiry in the last parliament, and we are grateful that the government incorporated some of the Labor members' recommendations into this bill and also undertook to include the other recommendations in the new regulations when they are made. Labor has consulted with a number of stakeholders, including the National Affordable Housing Providers, the National Affordable Housing Consortium and the Community Housing Industry Association, who are supportive of this legislation. I hope, as they do, that as the government drafts the accompanying regulations the government engages in consultation with those who will continue to use the scheme.

Labor has moved an amendment to this legislation to ensure that the departmental secretary retains the ability to make new allocations under NRAS. Labor members believe this is a necessary amendment to ensure that this or a future government could extend NRAS funding and for the secretary to make new allocations should they so wish. I note that the government has indicated it will support this amendment, and we're grateful they've done so.

The government has decided to not allocate new funding to this scheme. Nothing in this act requires it to do so. However, it might change its mind, or a future government might wish to use this act to help build more affordable housing. Let's certainly hope so. Therefore it makes sense to leave this power to the departmental secretary in the act.

Let me reiterate: Labor supports this bill, and we commend our amendment to the Senate.