Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Many Australians are looking to purchase first homes, and they are losing out under this government, with today's inflation figures showing that housing is up 5.2 per cent in the 12 months to May and that rents are up 7.4 per cent for the year as well. According to the ABS, a total of 172,000 new dwellings were constructed in 2023. That compares to 220,000 under the coalition in 2018. Minister, why is Australia going backwards on housing construction and approvals under Labor?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I don't accept that the former government did enough on housing, as implied by Senator Bragg's question there. I don't think you did enough on new housing. I don't think you did enough on working with states and territories. I don't think you did enough with social housing, with affordable housing or with making sure that the homelessness agreement was funded or indexed properly. You didn't do any of those things. Under the leadership of Minister Collins, we have been addressing those things one by one. She's been doing an incredible job.

We agree that we need to build more houses. We do. We had this long exchange in estimates, which I enjoyed immensely, around housing. We were clear. We want to see more dwellings built. We want to remove some of the barriers that are preventing housing construction in this country. In particular, we are working with states, territories and councils about some of the planning barriers that exist that are not allowing housing to be built as quickly as we would like. We could go through all of the investments that we have made in other areas of housing. It's not just new housing to allow for first-home ownership but it's also what we do at the social and affordable end. It's the Social Housing Accelerator. It's the Housing Australia Future Fund, which will get programs out as soon as it's worked through them, but there is more to be done. We're not pretending that there isn't. There is enormous pressure in the housing market. We want to make sure that we are building more. We've got our target that will kick in on 1 July, and we will work with states and territories to meet that target and make sure that the Commonwealth is doing everything it can to increase the supply of housing in this country.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Bragg, first supplementary?

Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council has said in its recent report that we will see just 900,000 new houses built by 2029. That is 300,000 short of the target of 1.2 million set by your government. How can the government continue to claim that it will meet these targets if we're going backwards on construction and your own advisory council says it won't be achieved?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would start my answer with the fact that the chair of the supply council has also said that the 1.2 million homes target is suitably ambitious and clearly focuses attention on improving supply. That is also advice. The fact that we have a council and the fact that we have a report looking at housing supply across the country demonstrate this government's determination to increase the supply of housing. This is the work that wasn't done under the former government, and to pretend that the housing pressures arose overnight, in the last year or in the last two years is simply incorrect. It's not true. It is as a result—and you have to take some responsibility; maybe not you, Senator Bragg, because you weren't in the executive—of the lack of attention that was placed on housing by the former government. You didn't even have a minister for housing. There was no minister in the ministry until right towards the end when you realised that you'd stuffed it up.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Bragg, second supplementary?

Honourable senators interjecting—

Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I think we're all happy with that. The New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, has said that New South Wales, which is the largest state in the Commonwealth, will not meet its target. When will the government be honest about its claim on housing supply, given the biggest state in the Commonwealth has said that its portion of the target will never be met?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our target under Homes for Australia, the 1.2 million home target, comes in on 1 July. It seems that the most pressing issue for the opposition is whether or not we're going to meet a target that hasn't even started yet. It comes in on 1 July. We've done the lead-in work. We're working with the states and territories. I note, in the New South Wales budget last week, the historic investment in housing that underpinned that budget. Essentially, the centrepiece of the New South Wales government budget was its focus on housing—it's very welcome. We would like to see more of that where it's possible. We don't tell the states how to allocate their budgets, but we certainly welcome that investment. We will work with the New South Wales government, as we will work with every government. We don't have a plan to override them and take over their energy systems like someone else does. We will work with them in cooperation to deliver the housing that this country needs.