Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Exactly right, Senator Lambie. They have not built a single home in that time. Yet they keep coming into this place and saying, 'We've got XYZ millions and billions of dollars for housing, and we've got this great policy here.' But it sounds like Sir Humphrey Appleby's hospital! It's a great hospital—it's a great plan, in this case—but it doesn't have a single patient. Under their program, we've got these policies that have not delivered a single home.

Our plan, unlike that of those opposite, is incredibly practical, and it will work. Our policy is to unlock 500,000 homes, by funding essential infrastructure like water, power and sewerage, and to rebalance the migration system properly to ease pressure on housing demand.

Those opposite, when they came into government, said, 'Let's open the migration gates; let's open the floodgates.' We do need more migrants here in Australia, but we don't need the yoga instructors and things like that that those opposite have put on the critical list. We need electricians, we need builders, we need bricklayers, we need engineers, and we do need students. But, of course, those opposite—with hundreds of thousands of extra people coming into the country—forgot that, if you're going to bring hundreds of thousands of people into Australia, they'll need to live somewhere. Those geniuses didn't stop to think, 'If we let so many people come in so quickly, where are they going to live?' That has further contributed to the housing shortage and the spiralling costs of rentals and also of homes to build.

Unlike those opposite, we will restore the Australian dream of homeownership because as Liberals we not only understand the importance of homeownership and rentals to Australians but have always been able to deliver the policies to make that a reality. Those opposite, after 2½-plus years, haven't delivered a single home, and, through their inflationary policies, they've driven up 12 interest rate hikes in their term of government. They've put pressure on the cost of living for all Australians. Australians are struggling, and they are struggling to make the decision about whether they feed their family tonight or they turn the heater on. It is unforgiveable what those opposite have done to our nation in 2½ years.