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

Thank you, Senator Smith. As she said in her question, we believe all Australians should be able to afford a safe and secure home, and we believe that you should be able to afford that no matter where you're from, no matter which school you went to, no matter who your parents are or what job you have. That's why we are investing more to build more homes to support renters and to help more Australians buy a home sooner.

Of course, on the other side, Mr Dutton—what does he believe? He actually believes only some Australians should get to own their own home. Senator Birmingham yesterday stood up in this place, and he said that the LNP 'stand for home ownership and have it as a core value'. What he left out is that they don't mean it for every Australian. They don't mean it for every Australian. What he should have said is: 'The Dutton Liberals are for home ownership but only for some of us.' That actually is the Liberal Party position. Their core value of home ownership is actually only for some, and any attempt to expand it to more Australians is something Mr Dutton has to say no to. That's why they said no to Help to Buy. It's why they said no to 40,000 low- and middle-income Australians who want to get into the market. That really showed what Mr Dutton is about.

You see, Mr Dutton and the Liberals aren't just saying no to the Albanese government; they're actually saying no to home ownership for Australians on low and middle incomes. That's the core value that the Liberal Party are defending—saying no to the dreams of young people across the country: 'No, you can't own your own home. No, we don't want to build more houses. No, we don't want social and affordable housing. No, we don't want to support Australians who need it. No, we don't want more houses and more people to own their own homes.'