Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Tyrrell, again. Of course, any budget that the federal government brings down undertakes and provides funding for a broad range of activities, and I'm very confident that when this budget is finalised—and I know Senator Gallagher, in particular, has been putting huge effort into framing it—it will deal with a number of really important challenges that Australians are facing, whether it be in Tasmania or elsewhere around the country. Assisting people with cost-of-living relief will be a real centrepiece of this budget and providing more investment in housing will be as well, provided we can get that legislation passed.

Senator Tyrrell, I'm sure you're aware, we are already taking action on affordable housing in Tasmania, with 48 new affordable homes provided in Launceston in partnership with Community Housing Limited and 181 new homes in north-west Tasmania funded by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, so there's a lot of action. We know there needs to be more, and that's what that housing fund's about. (Time expired)