Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Sheldon, for the question. Labor senators, the Labor government and the Labor Party want every Australian to have safe and secure housing, and we want more Australians to be able to buy their own homes. We want to build; you want to block. That's the difference between us and the coalition-Greens coalition. These senators want to build houses; you want to block houses from being built.

We are investing to help build more homes, support renters and help people buy a home sooner. We have set an ambitious goal of building 1.2 million homes by the end of the decade. We've kickstarted construction by cutting red tape. We're bringing forward the construction of new housing by working with states to build roads and infrastructure and free up land for housing—training more tradies, funding more apprenticeships and growing the workforce. We've increased rent assistance; we've helped tens of thousands of Australians get into the market with a deposit of five per cent or less and no mortgage insurance; and we are making the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in more than a decade.

We want to do more, and we want to deliver more homes for more Australians around the country. But do you know what is stopping us? It is the Greens and the coalition teaming up, once again, to block more housing. That's what they've been doing for months and months, and here we go again. We see the coalition between the Greens and the LNP blocking Labor's plan for more affordable rental housing and blocking Labor's plan to help tens of thousands of people get into the market with a smaller deposit. Those on this side of the chamber want to build. All you across the chamber want to do is block. (Time expired)