Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

We are in a rental crisis with more people experiencing rental stress and unable to afford a home. The Labor government must take action by stopping unlimited rental increases.

As the motion states, we are in a rental crisis in Australia, and more and more people are experiencing rental stress and are unable to afford the basic human right of having a home to live in. This motion does call for the Labor government to take action by stopping unlimited rental increases. It is shameful that in this country renters in most places can face an unlimited number, an unlimited frequency and an unlimited scale of rent rises. In many cases, the number, the frequency and the scale of rent rises is enough to render people homeless.

Labor's rental crisis epitomises a broken social contract between the government and the people that it governs. Labor Housing Minister Julie Collins said the quiet thing out loud earlier this year when she said that Labor views houses as an investment and asset class in Australia. Well, I've got news for Ms Collins: houses are actually homes. Houses are homes, where people and their families build a place for themselves, buy a place for themselves or, in the case of about a third of the houses in Australia, rent a place for themselves to live. The broken social contract between this Labor government and its people represents an understanding that used to exist in Australia, where hard work, education and a reasonable job were keys to a fair crack at prosperity and a good life. This foundational belief, this foundational social contract, has been systematically dismantled by the Albanese government.

The plight of young Australians in particular—but not only young Australians—who rent today tells a stark story. That social contract—the one that represented an agreement, a contract that hard work, education and a reasonable job were the keys to a fair crack at a prosperous life—is broken, and no longer can it be said that hard work alone, that education alone, that a decent job alone is enough to have a good life in Australia. The new class division in this country is between people who own property and people who do not. That is the stark new class division that is emerging in this country—and it is stark and unforgiving. Those who are lucky enough—and I would suggest it's most people in this chamber, who own property—continue to prosper. Those who do not are condemned to the likelihood of a life of economic uncertainty.

ABS figures released today showed that wages grew by about 1.3 per cent. That is a small increase on inflation and that should be celebrated as real wage growth. But rents increased by 2.2 per cent over the same quarter. Rents are skyrocketing, and wages are not keeping up with skyrocketing rents. That is placing the dream of a home further and further out of reach for more and more people. Labor needs to act.