Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Twelve months out from the last election, I visited a housing and homeless service in Mackay. There, I heard firsthand about the housing crisis in that city, and how they were forced to turn away 90 per cent of the people who came to them for help with housing because they just didn't have capacity to meet the overwhelming need. Stories like this were repeated over and over as I travelled around my home state of Queensland.

Fast forward to now, and we're well into this term of the Albanese government. We've seen two allegedly progressive budgets, and what we're left with is a housing crisis that this government wants to wash its hands of. Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of people in desperate need of a roof over their heads. Just last week, in Emerald, I heard from Jeanelle and the team at the Emerald Neighbourhood Centre. They told me about the ever-increasing pressure being placed on their services by people in the community who are having to choose between paying their rent or buying food, and about people living in tents on the outskirts of town because they can't find an affordable home.

I remind the Senate that we are not here to rubberstamp bad policy. We are especially not here to rubberstamp a policy that will see the housing crisis get worse in five years. We are here to genuinely help the people in our communities and to keep fighting for those in crisis. We are here to push the government for a better deal for the 5.5 million Australian renters who were left behind in the budget and for the thousands of Australians who desperately need direct investment in public and affordable housing. That's why our constituents voted for us, and that's what we are going to keep doing.