Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Community Services, Senator Scullion. Home ownership remains the great Australian dream. Will the minister inform the Senate of the measures undertaken by the government to assist with housing affordability? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for the question. I would like to recognise Senator Humphries’s longstanding interest in housing affordability both for renters and first-time buyers in the Australian Capital Territory. The Australian government recognises the concern in the community. There is no doubt about that. In fact, we welcome the active involvement through the media and other processes of community concerns throughout this debate. I think it is very important that we have information and views from all sides. But this debate cannot happen unless we have the entire story and the debate is actually based on fact. The Australian government has met all of our responsibilities in this matter and we will continue to meet them.

Just to give you a bit of a thumbnail sketch of the contribution of the Australian government, we have provided those people in the low socioeconomic demographics who need rental assistance with $2.2 billion. That is rental assistance for a million Australians a fortnight. I know that is very well-received. There is the first home owners grant of $7,000. For a number of years, when the $7,000 was handed over, states took the handout and it was absolutely gobbled up by stamp duty. It has not really been arriving at the target audience for some time. We have a program of early intervention for the homeless, ensuring that we are targeting those people who are most at risk of homelessness. That has been extremely well-received and very successful, even on an international level. There are the tax concessions of negative gearing and capital gains. These have all been the levers under which the Commonwealth has ensured that we provide affordable housing. The $4.75 billion that we provide through the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement is our most substantial contribution to ensuring both renting and buying a house remain affordable.

This is really an issue of supply and demand. There is no rocket science involved. There are not many houses about the place and that is of great concern to the Commonwealth. We have invested $4.75 billion. It is amazing to the Commonwealth because, when you make that sort of investment, you make the assumption that it is targeting new housing and that we would have a lot more houses. After the investment of $4.75 billion, the state and territory governments have delivered us 13 fewer houses than we started with in 2005. For those in the gallery, and I am quite sure Senator Humphries will be interested to hear this, the Australian Capital Territory has managed to achieve 637 fewer houses since 2005.

We are talking about supply and demand. We are talking about the acuteness of supply. I think everybody in this place should be absolutely and chronically aware that the issue of supply lies clearly and directly with the states and territories.

Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Shift the blame.

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is not about blame, to take that interjection from Senator Ray. Labor are all about blame. There is no blame; there are just the facts of the matter, which are quite clear. Speaking of allocation of responsibilities, supply is actually constrained by land release and the financial issues—

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chris Evans interjecting—

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are not releasing Commonwealth land for airports; I know that, Senator Evans. At a time when people really need a hand, the states and territories are gouging out a brand new—actually, it has been going on for a while now—housing affordability tax. $11.9 billion— (Time expired)