Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

tor TYRRELL (—) (): How many homes do the Greens want built? Do they want any at all? They said they do. They just don't vote like they do. By voting down 30,000 homes, you are saying you'd rather have none at all. You're saying no to something and yes to nothing. Could the government do more and be more ambitious? Yes, but think of it like this: imagine you're hungry, you're starving, you're desperate and you need a meal right now, and then some generous stranger comes along and offers you some food—not a whole lot, less than it takes to feed you for a day but more than you have right now. Would you take the food? Would you be happy to feel like your stomach is full for a while? The Greens would argue that, if this stranger is not prepared to feed you as much food as you can take for as long as you live, you should refuse it and eat nothing. 'What's the point?' they'd say. 'You're still going to need more food afterwards. You'll be hungry next week.' They'd ask you: 'How's it funded? Was this food paid for by a gamble on the stock market? If it was, it's better to eat nothing.'

Tasmania is hungry for more affordable housing. We're desperate for it. I've negotiated to secure 1,200 homes for Tasmania in the next five years. That means we'll be building affordable housing faster than demand is growing for it. In other words, it's enough for the problem to start to get better, not worse. But the Greens refuse to support it. Tasmanian Greens senators are voting against a hot meal because it's only an entree. We're hungry, we're desperate and we need these homes. People are begging for food and the Greens are voting for hunger.