Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

There are elements of this motion which we would, I think, were the time allowed to debate it, support. But section (b) is a particular problem; it's calling for a direction of funds and the scrapping of the HomeBuilder scheme. We think we're not in a position to argue for that, and we certainly agree that there should be more done around social housing, but this motion is drafted in a way that Labor can't support. We've had a very strong record in government of supporting and investing in social housing. In fact, when the stimulus package was put together in the last global financial crisis, a social housing package, supported by Labor, was worth about $7 billion, so I don't think there can be criticism of our support for social housing. But the way this motion has been drafted doesn't allow for proper debate and, as such, we will be opposing it.