Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

If I can approach that first question first, Senator Pocock, the objective of 10,000 homes per year is set out over the forwards. The government, should we be re-elected—because, if Mr Dutton is elected, that will be the end of the hopes and dreams of schoolteachers, nurses, retail workers and truck drivers to have the government support their ambition for them and their families and their children to stable homeownership in the Australian real estate market. That would be the end. A Dutton prime ministership would go back to the same old sitting on the hands, no action, driving the housing industry off a cliff in terms of capacity. This government, should we be re-elected with this scheme in operation, will watch it closely. In the event that we can support extending it based upon the performance of the program, of course, it's open to the government to do that. As the government starts to achieve a return as money is reinvested, that will provide a basis for further confidence in the further operation of the scheme.

This government, if I can deal with your second question, has a very bold set of propositions on housing reform. It is opposed by Mr Dutton and Mr Joyce and whoever else there is in what passes for the leadership of the Liberals and Nationals at the moment. There is a scheme there, a set of schemes that are very ambitious and a set of targets that are directed towards the supply of housing.

Of course, I hope that we will get to traverse these in Senate estimates over the coming years as you test us out on the performance of some of these measures over time.