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

Thank you, Senator Green, for being such a strong advocate for the needs of regional Queenslanders. It's a shame we don't have a few more of them in this place, especially around there—over there in particular. Certainly, Colleen's story in Central Queensland is not an isolated one. At the end of last year the vacancy rate in our home state of Queensland was 0.8 per cent, and the numbers in the regions were far worse, particularly in Gladstone, the Southern Downs, the cape, Goondiwindi and the tablelands—all seeing near zero vacancy rates.

The lack of housing in regional Australia disproportionately hurts women, low- and middle-income earners and the very essential workers and tradies that certain people here say they stand up for. It constrains regional economies and puts people in really difficult living situations. And it is the direct result of nine years of inaction and underfunding of housing from the former coalition government, who pretend that they are on regional Australia's side but always let them down. For years, under the former government, we saw state governments, peak groups and regional communities crying out for national leadership and funding from their federal government to address what was a looming housing crisis. As a result of their inaction, as a result of the mess they left behind, we see far too many regional Australians being hit by growing rents, struggling to buy a home, and facing or experiencing homelessness.

We, of course, as the new Labor government have a policy to develop 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes across five years through the Housing Australia Future Fund. In fact, we've committed to distribute the homes equitably across urban, regional and remote Australia. So why are Senators Canavan and McDonald, for instance, working with the Greens to stop this happening? Why is Gladstone based Senator Allman-Payne taking instructions from the inner-city based Brisbane housing spokesperson on the other side of the building? These people should get behind regional Australia and back in those homes. (Time expired)