Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers to questions raised by the opposition. I might start with the question about makarrata. I will reply with a very simple but very straightforward and heartfelt response from Chris Kenny, talking about how it's being approached by those in the Liberal and National parties. Chris Kenny, when talking about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, said:

… Yet now the Coalition scare campaign seeks to decry this as a secretive plot to rend asunder the nation.

It is not a plausible critique and it should not be taken seriously by media or political commentators. It insults the public.

He went on to say:

The people running these scares know full well they are talking about nothing more than an advisory body.

…   …   …

This truly is an attempt to turn Australians against each other.

That was Chris Kenny over the weekend, and we're seeing that again and again today.

To hear about the support and the real outcomes that, of course, the Voice will give, we have to look at the questions raised about housing. A fair proportion of the $10 billion for the HAFF scheme—many tens of millions of dollars—would go to support those most socially disadvantaged, for affordable housing. That includes our First Nations people. If they're really serious about doing something—Chris Kenny's got it right—rather than running a scare campaign, they should get behind the Voice, get behind making sure that we can start getting things right, because both sides of the political fence have not got it right. We can't just keep doing the same. If you're really serious about making sure there is practical change—too many of those on the opposite side aren't about serious practical change—then support the housing proposed with the $10 billion. What we've been doing about dealing with the pressures of cost of living across the community is looking at the very fundamentals of making sure we give assistance—rent assistance increased by $2.7 billion, a 15 per cent increase to almost 1.1 million people. The Housing Future Fund, as I've said, would have $10 billion.

Let's start checking again what makes those opposite tick. One of the biggest branches, the New South Wales branch—and what was one of the biggest state governments, the previous New South Wales government, now thankfully ousted—don't care about social housing there either. It's in their DNA. We only need to look at the track record in New South Wales, where the Liberals and Nationals sold off more than 4,200 social homes over their term in office. That's $3.5 billion worth sold off forever. At the same time, the social housing waitlist kept growing, and now it sits at more than 50,000 people. If they were really serious about making a difference on these fronts, then they'd start supporting the initiatives that Labor has been putting forward.

We've seen it with taking on the challenge of increased energy prices—$3 billion of relief announced for individuals and small business. Those opposite say they're the small-business party, but they opposed small business having energy price support. They opposed tens of thousands of Australians receiving support with their energy bills. Then we go to Medicare. We've put $1.6 billion over four years into making sure we have cheaper medicine. Again, they've opposed it. Time and time again, they oppose the most disadvantaged, for political opportunism in the worst sense. These people are always opposed to doing reforms that make a difference. They've not only vacated the field but they have a scorched earth policy on affordable housing and on meeting the challenges of cost of living. Every time there's an opportunity to make a difference for Australians, whether it be small business, the community, wages or housing, they vote no—a scorched earth policy when it comes to help and support for those most struggling in Australia at the moment with cost-of-living pressures. They need to get off their backsides, put their hands up, get on the right side of the vote and start backing Australians.