Clare O'Neil
Hotham · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“What a great question from the member for Bass. As we come to the end of question time for today, what a stark contrast this draws from the question that was just asked by those opposite—a hardworking local member who comes into this parliament week after week to advocate for her constituents, especially those who aspire to their own home…”
“I'm asked about alternatives, and the three right-wing parties of the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation have opposed every measure that our government has put in place to support first home buyers.”
“When they found out they were eligible for this program, Christy said they were over the moon. They've been able to get into their own home. Now, they're living much closer to town, their 10-year-old son no longer has a long bus ride to school, and he gets to ride his bike instead.”
“They want to scrap help to buy, which helps 10,000 people a year into their own home, and they want to double down on taxing every person in this country to subsidise investors to outbid first home owners in every auction in this country. As we come to the end of the budget sitting, this is becoming abundantly clear.”
“Today I want to pay special tribute to a pivotal and unique leader in my community, John Charles Saunders, who, tragically, passed away in March this year. John served our country in the 3rd Division Signals regiment and continued that service over many years as secretary of the Clayton RSL and region 2.”
“He brought with him that real specialness and that wisdom and humour that we get from that very unique Australian generation who saw challenges face this country, the likes of which my generation has never had to experience.”
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“When we look at where investors are investing in housing in Australia today, more than 80 per cent of their investments are in homes that have already been built. Explain to me the public policy reason for the tax system to support such a thing. Of course, the results have been pretty predictable: more pressure on prices and fewer people being able to buy their first homes on a Saturday morning all around Australia. That's exactly why this bill is levelling the playing field for first home buyers in relation to investors. At a time when housing affordability around our country is under such tremendous pressure, we just can't sustain a system that actively tilts things away from first home buyers who desperately need our help.”
“No-one is suggesting that what's going on in housing happened in the last five years or indeed the last 10 years. This is a long-running, chronic problem for our country which has been building since, effectively, I was born. For too long, governments around our country have failed to ensure that enough homes get built. We've seen planning systems around the nation get more restrictive. We've seen infrastructure fail to keep pace. And, alongside all of those failures, we've seen a government that decided to tilt the housing market away from first home buyers and towards investors. Over time, Australia has allowed this tax system, which encouraged huge additional amounts of investments to flow straight into existing housing stock, to continue.”
“If we look at what has happened to our housing market since the tax changes were made by John Howard and Peter Costello all the way back in 1999, house prices and incomes decoupled. We saw this huge growth start to emerge in our housing market, yet wages were not able to keep up. That was partly the effect of the tax changes that we are unwinding and revising today. If you've got any doubt about what's going on in housing today, I want you to remember this. We are at a point in our country today where the average time that it would take to save a 20 per cent deposit in your home city of Sydney, Deputy Speaker Freelander, is now up to 17 years. We cannot let this go on without intervention, and that is why our government is standing up and making this change.”
“They had an experience that I want every Australian to experience. They sat on the floor in a home without chairs, and they ate pizza out of the box with their friends. What a beautiful moment for that family, and our government was so proud to have been part of making it happen for them. But we're not seeing enough Mikas and Matts, and I want to see more of them. Increasingly, Australians are seeing that future slipping out of their reach. For decades, homeownership rates have been falling but falling particularly quickly for those young people whom I am so concerned about. The tax system is not the whole story when it comes to what's going on in housing, but it's certainly pretty relevant.”
“They're sitting around a table and saying, 'How can we map our way out of this existence?' They're stuck in rental queues, paying too much of their income in rents and bouncing from short-term rental to short-term rental, all the while likely paying off someone else's mortgage rather than their own. We want to change the opportunity for Australians like that. I want to tell you about Mika and Matt, who are a couple that I met pretty recently with the Prime Minister. We visited their home in Canberra, and they just recently bought into the market under the five per cent deposit scheme. We saw the transformative effect of having homeownership for this family. They are setting up a life together, a productive, beautiful life in our great country. They told me about the first night that they stayed in their new home.”
“We see more and more older Australians who are heading into retirement with a significant mortgage. All of us, if we're being really honest, can see in the parks and the streets of our own suburbs an increasing number of Australians who do not have a roof over their heads. Finally, we have a Commonwealth government that is standing up and saying that we are going to do something about this. We're having our usual argy-bargy as we have in politics in the chamber, but outside the chamber Australians are having a very similar conversation across households in their lounge rooms and at their kitchen tables. They're talking about whether they will ever be able to buy a home of their own.”
“But I also get to see what happens when housing goes right—the transformative effect that stable housing has on Australian families, allowing them for the first time to be stable, to set down roots, to build a life in a new community and to know that no-one can move them on from something that is theirs. That deep meaning is why Australians, for almost our entire existence since the postwar period, have fought and aspired to homeownership. But, whatever you may see about what's going on in our country today and whatever different views there may be around this chamber on what to do, we should all be able to agree on one thing, and that is that our country has a broken housing market. We have got homeownership rates falling through the floor for Australia's young people. Of course, this is not just about Australia's young people.”
“I actually want to talk to you, Speaker, about the deep meaning of what the parliament is debating at the moment. So much of the language that we use to talk about public policy in this chamber has this dryness and this sense of avoidance of any kind of emotion or meaning. As housing minister, I get to see what happens when housing goes wrong in our country. I get to see the pain, the distress, the discomfort and the incredible damage that this can do to the lives of people who are wound up in everything that is going wrong in our broken housing system.”
“I'm really grateful for the chance to contribute to this debate, and I acknowledge other members who have had their say in the parliament. I'm really proud today to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026. This package of bills represents four of the key measures in the recent federal budget. The first is the working Australians tax offset, providing a new tax cut for every single one of Australia's 13 million workers. There are an instant tax deduction of $1,000, reforms to capital gains tax and reforms to limit negative gearing to new builds. There is a lot about this bill that is technical in the operations of the tax system, and I don't want to focus my comments on that today.”
“But the truth is we've got to take this problem seriously, and the serious answer is that we've got to build, build, build. That is why our government has the boldest and most ambitious housing policy that a Commonwealth government has had for 70 years—$47 billion, and the main goal and the main game is building, building, building. I say again, respectfully, to those opposite that it takes a little bit of moxie to be coming into this parliament and asking me, as housing minister, questions about the housing crisis that those opposite played a very significant hand in creating for our country.”
“I thank the member for McPherson for his question. It's actually a really important question, and I'm glad he's asked it of me. Migration is a piece of the puzzle here, and that is exactly why our government has acted to bring migration down. This is the detail that seems to get lost with those opposite: migration is now almost half what it reached after its post-COVID high. Now, if I can say really respectfully to those opposite, the main game here is that we've got to build more homes for Australians. For forty years, our country has not been building enough homes. Those opposite can laugh and guffaw and play politics. Those opposite can laugh and guffaw all they like; I encourage them to do it. Opposition is a very frustrating time. I completely understand.”
“Speaker, that's good for the people that you represent in this parliament and it's good for the people that I represent. And, on the Labor side of politics, we believe what's good for Australians is what's good for our country.”
“He started a political party that was all about ordinary Australians having a stake in their own country. Yet in politics today it is Labor that is standing up for aspiration. It is Labor that is standing up for ordinary people, to have stability, certainty and control in their lives. When it comes to aspiration, our party has a pretty simple belief: we want Australians to get ahead and we want them to do it in a home of their own. Our broken housing system is increasingly one where your chance of homeownership depends not on how hard you work but on the wealth you inherit from your parents. In our view, that is not Australia at its best, so we're making some hard decisions to change the system. We're cutting taxes, we're increasing wages and we're helping more Australians get into the dream of homeownership.”
“We want a fairer system for first home buyers, to put them on a level playing field with investors and to back them in with our five per cent deposit program. We want a fairer system for workers, who need and deserve a pay rise, and we want a fairer system for taxpayers, who need and deserve the tax cut that our government is about to give them. Now, those opposite do not support any of those things, and I want Australians who are watching at home to know something: we see the broken system and we see the pain that this is causing you. We are for change; these people are for the status quo. We stand up for opportunity; those opposite stand up for privilege. If Robert Menzies were alive today, he would be absolutely horrified with what he would see on the other side of the chamber.”
“I thank the fantastic member for Macnamara for his question, and I want to acknowledge the particular leadership role that he's played in this discussion, in his role as special envoy for social housing and homelessness. He understands, as I do, that housing is about so much more than bricks and mortar. This is about security. It's about stability. It's about having the confidence to start a family and put down roots in a community. For too many Australians right around our country, our broken housing system has pushed these things out of reach. Australians are working harder than ever. They're studying harder and they're saving harder, but a broken housing system will not reward their efforts. We believe it is time for change. We want a fairer system.”
“We are having a big parliamentary debate at the moment about aspiration, so let me be really clear about where Labor stands. There is no greater aspiration in this country than to own your own home. For most families around this nation, this is the most important financial decision that they will ever make in their lives. Our tax changes are about helping Australians build financial security for themselves and their families.”
“I thank the wonderful member for Swan for her question. We've got a housing crisis in our country that's been building for decades, and the member for Swan is proud, as I am, to be a part of a government that, with genuine and great conviction, is tackling this problem from every single angle. Our Homes for Australia plan is a long-term plan to rebuild Australia's housing system so it actually works for the Australian people—more homes, more first home buyers, a better deal for renters and helping more Australians in crisis. This morning, the Treasurer introduced legislation to deliver the next step: tax reforms that, for the first time in 25 years, will level the playing field for first home buyers and provide a tax cut for every single working person in our country.”
“For nine long years, this group of charlatans sat on the government benches—for most of that time, without a housing minister.”
“It is hurting people, and that is why our government is standing up and doing something about it. That is why our government is levelling the playing field for first home buyers and building on the work that we have done to get a quarter of a million Australians the keys to their own home, and we're damn proud to have done it. It's why we're committing another $2 billion of investment in last-mile infrastructure to unlock another 65,000 homes. That builds on $4.3 billion that we'd already committed to that endeavour. It's why our government is so proud to be delivering 55,000 social and affordable homes around the country. We've just ticked over 7,000 of them being completed. I'm asked about alternatives, and I want to speak about the approach of those opposite.”
“I thank the member for Gorton for her fantastic question. She's one of our brilliant incoming class of 2025, one of many in our caucus who speak so powerfully for the younger generations of our country who are being treated so unfairly by our broken housing system. The member for Gorton and I share a really simple belief, and that is that everyone in our country should have a safe place to call home. But, for far too many Australians, their housing dream keeps slipping further and further away. Whether it's the dream of buying their own home, renting somewhere near where they work or getting into much needed social and affordable housing, the system is not working for them. As the Prime Minister said before, our housing system in this country is broken. It is cooked.”
“If you want to do it through property, you can still get access to those generous housing concessions. But what we ask is that you do something for the country, and that is build a desperately needed new home. I'm asked about alternatives. The coalition are the only people I can find in our country today who are continuing to defend the broken status quo. They are the only people who feel no sense of sympathy for the young people of our country who are suffering and the parents and the grandparents who are worried about them. We've got a clear plan to deliver a fairer housing system for the country, and on Thursday we're going to start legislating to make it happen.”
“National Shelter said the budget begins to rebalance the system back towards first home buyers, renters and the delivery of new homes. And former New South Wales Liberal minister Rob Stokes, who's now at Faith Housing Australia, said Australia should not be a country where the system makes it easier to accumulate multiple investment properties than for young people to own their first home—finally, a Liberal of this country who gets it. Rob Stokes can see what I can see, what the Prime Minister can see and what everyone behind me can see. That is that the status quo cannot continue. Something had to change, and that's why we're standing up and changing it. Importantly, we are continuing to support investment in new housing supply. If you are a young person in this country and you want to get ahead, we want to support you to do it.”
“Our government wants something pretty simple and straightforward for our country, and that is for Australia to be a place where citizens on every income level can aspire to homeownership and realise that dream for themselves and their families. We want to live in a country where housing is fair to Australians. That's all. And that's why we're standing up and changing the housing system of our country. We're doing that by backing in first home buyers through the five per cent deposit program, and we're levelling the playing field at auctions. Experts, economists and housing advocates are backing in the effect of these reforms. Economist Saul Eslake said the reforms will create more opportunities for aspiring first home buyers.”
“I thank the member for Jagajaga for her question. I was in her electorate with the Prime Minister just a week ago, visiting some of the 743 social and affordable homes that we are building in great electorate of Jagajaga. Australians have got a housing system that's stacked against them. We want Australians to get ahead and we want them to particularly do it in a home that they own. But in today's housing market there is nothing but heartbreak for the young people of this country. They are doing all the right things: they are studying longer than ever, they are working harder than ever and they are saving longer than ever. Yet, still, they're turning up to auctions and, more often than not, getting outbid by investors standing next to them who are backed in by the Australian taxpayer.”
“What you are now continually seeing in this debate is that we're for change; these people are for the broken status quo. And they are the only ones defending it. Increasingly, they are the only people defending a broken system that locks people around this country out of homeownership. I'm getting lots of backchat here, but I'd be pretty embarrassed too if I had been raised in the party of homeownership that has turned on the young people of this country with the force that those opposite have. We're creating a fairer situation for the young people of this country, but I want Australians to know that every piece of this will be unwound by those opposite.”
“By the time of the next election, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of young people around our country will be in their own home, directly because of our government's first home ownership policies. I want every single one of them to know that it was a Labor government that saw their ambition, that saw their aspiration and that stepped in to help them realise it. I'm asked about alternatives and risks, and, by God, there is one on the table, because those opposite want to scrap all of the arrangements that are making this possible. They want to get rid of the five per cent deposit program because, according to them, this is about supporting the children of billionaires. They want to get rid of Help to Buy, and now they want to scrap the level playing field that we are creating for first home buyers.”
“For 25 years, the Sunday morning reports on Saturday's auctions have told us, pretty much universally, the same thing—that first home buyers are getting pipped by investors and that more and more homes are out of reach for young people. But, for the last two weekends, we have started to read something very, very different. Across the country, first home buyers are snapping up homes. We read of a single mum buying a home for her family in St Kilda East; a young couple buying their first home in Yarraville, telling the paper that they'd given up on buying in that particular suburb; four first home buyers competing against each other at an auction in Ardeer, all on a level playing field. One auctioneer told the paper that the first home buyers of this country were 'up and about'. That is exactly the point.”
“I thank the member for Aston for her question. She has just ticked over the thousandth young person in her community who is into their first home with our government's backing, and there are plenty more where that came from. Too many Australians feel that the housing market is stacked against them, and what is so frustrating, especially for the young people of our country, is that they're doing all the right things. They're saving hard, they're working hard and they're studying hard, and yet, still, they turn up to auctions with the deck stacked against them. That is what our government is seeking to change. That is why we are levelling the playing field for first home buyers through our budget housing reforms.”
“With regard to tonight's announcement, whenever I hear a commitment from these sneaky little Liberals and Nationals, I like to look at the record. I like to look at the record of their past behaviour and see whether it stacks up.”
“This is going to unlock 65,000 homes for the country by delivering the pipes, paths and power that communities need to support more homes. This brings our government's total investment in housing infrastructure up to a record $6.3 billion. I want Australians to remember that number: $6.3 billion. It's been dropped to the paper by those opposite that they're coming forward with an overwhelming reform tonight to announce a lesser amount of funding: $5 billion for funding. We're already doing $6.3 billion, and not only that but we will add to that number as I continue to announce state based deals for our 100,000 homes policy. We started this work in our first term and we're building it in our second.”
“That is a great question, and I thank the member for Melbourne for asking it. Australia has a housing challenge because for decades our country has not been building enough homes. That is why our Labor government has the boldest and most ambitious agenda on housing that a Commonwealth has had for 70 years: $47 billion, the majority of which is focused on building more homes. We're making real progress. When we came to office, new commencements for housing were falling by 6.7 per cent. Get this: in the last year alone, new housing commencements have gone up 26 per cent. These are really important improvements, though we've got a long way to go. We recognise that there's more work to do here, and that's why we just delivered a housing budget with $2 billion set aside for enabling infrastructure.”
“They say they're going to dismantle the five per cent deposit program, and they're going to unwind the reforms that we announced on Tuesday night. I say very clearly to those opposite: if you oppose helping first home buyers, don't pretend to stand for aspiration—you're standing in the path of it. Labor are the party of tax cuts. We are the party of homeownership and we are the party that is delivering on the aspiration of the Australian people. The 93 people behind me—we are damn proud to be doing it.”
“Our reforms will help redirect investment towards new housing supply, and they'll support another 75,000 renting households into their first home. I'm asked about alternatives. It really struck me in the last couple of days of this debate that the only people in this country who think the status quo is working for Australians are those opposite. Every single other person in this country can see that we have got a housing system that is busted for the Australian people. Our government is standing up and doing something about it. Those opposite have previously talked about their love for aspiration. But they also say that they are going to tear down these new supports for Australia's first home buyers.”
“Jessica has a really familiar story. She was renting and she was being pushed out of her home and she was despairing just wondering if she was ever going to get a chance to buy one of her own. She found out about Labor's five per cent deposit scheme and she finally got her chance. She told me that, when she walked into her own home for the first time, she almost cried. Jessica is one of 240,000 Australians that our government has helped into a home of their own, and we want more Australians like Jessica to have this opportunity. The five per cent deposit is all about getting you to auction sooner, and the budget from Tuesday night is making sure that, once you get there, you're fighting on a level playing field.”
“I thank the member for Menzies for his question, and I want to acknowledge the massive leadership he is showing our whole parliament on housing. He's doing a great job in leading our thinking. Australians see a housing system that is stacked against them. Labor wants them to get ahead, and we especially want to see Australians get the chance to own their own home. That's why we've built the most ambitious housing agenda that the Commonwealth has had in 70 years, and it's why we built on that agenda on Tuesday night in our housing budget. This budget, for housing, is about two important things. It's about levelling the playing field for first homebuyers, and it's about building more homes for our country. I was in Tasmania recently with Minister Julie Collins, and I got the chance to meet with a young woman named Jessica.”
“They speak of aspiration—there is no greater aspiration in this country than young people wanting to get the keys to their first home. Why is it that Liberals have come in consistently over the last four years and voted against every initiative that we have put forward to help first home buyers? First home buyers have a hell of a challenge out there, but I want them to know that they have a Labor government and 93 Labor members behind me that are with them and fighting for them every single day.”
“But it's really important that we address the playing field and level that playing field for first home buyers. Our five per cent deposit program helps you get to the auction sooner. It's gone from 11 years to save a deposit down to two or three. That's already changed the lives of 240,000 Australians around the country. We help you get to the auction faster, and now we're giving you a fair shot when you get here. Our homeownership package will help an additional 75,000 Australians go from renting into homeownership. I'm asked about risks, and we've already got one on the table. We've heard that the Liberal Party plan to oppose these reforms and unwind them at the next election. This is a political party one of whose foundation beliefs was a belief in homeownership. They have completely lost their way.”
“We know those opposite are obsessed with division and conflict, and they're talking about these important changes as though this is some kind of fight between the generations. But they know and I know that, as people representing the Australian community, we are just as likely to get stopped in the street by grandparents who are worried about their grandchildren and parents who are worried about their kids. Our housing challenge is affecting the whole country. That's why our government has built the boldest and most ambitious agenda to tackle this that a Commonwealth government has had in 70 years. We're building more homes. We know the main game is building, building, building because more housing means more affordable housing for Australians.”
“The member for Deakin is a fantastic champion for aspiring homeowners in his electorate, and I want to thank him for this question. Too many Australians today feel that the housing system is stacked against them, especially younger Australians, and they're not imagining it. Right across our community, homeownership rates are declining. They're declining across all age brackets, but the effects are particularly pronounced when we look at what's going on for younger Australians. As housing minister, I often get asked what things keep me up at night. Here's one of them: since the year I was born, a low-income young couple in this country are half as likely to own their own home than they were in 1980.”
“During that time, SES volunteers responded to more than 1,200 requests for assistance. Monash is a safer place and our country is a safer country because of wonderful people like George. I want to sincerely thank him and every member of his unit for their tireless commitment to our community.”
“Today I want to take a moment to recognise an outstanding member of our community who was honoured as part of the Australia Day honours earlier this year, and that is George Haitidis, who is the unit controller of Monash SES. It was a very exciting moment for our community. He was awarded the Emergency Services Medal, which is one of the highest honours available to SES volunteers. George has now dedicated two decades of service to protecting my local community. He joined the Monash unit in 2005, went on to become section leader three years later and then was appointed unit controller, a role that he has now served in for 18 years. That dedication was never more evident than the work that was done by George's team in February 2024, when my local council of Monash experienced the worst storm damage that we've seen in its history.”
“Many Iranian Australians have not been able to contact their family at home in Iran for some weeks—not knowing if they're safe, not knowing what's happening and living with a silence that is not just distressing but utterly unbearable. I have spoken to mothers who are unable to contact their Iranian children—children who are doing the bravest possible thing, which is standing up to a murderous and brutal regime. They cannot speak to their children to know and understand if they're safe. To the Iranian community here in Australia: we see you; we hear you, and your voice matters to us. The community asks that we as a parliament stay focused on the safety, the dignity and the freedom of the Iranian people, who have withstood decades of repression and now war. That's what I'll continue to advocate for.”
“I rise today in solidarity with Australia's much-loved Iranian community and for those in Iran who are living with fear, repression and uncertainty. I want to start by expressing my very deep and sincere gratitude to our Iranian community, particularly in Melbourne, who are so frequently willing to sit down with me and talk to me about what their community is going through. It is an enormously difficult time. The war in Iran is hurting all Australians, but for Iranian Australians this is deeply personal. For many, the past few weeks have been the most brutal swing from initial feelings of hope and perhaps even optimism to fear and then to real terror for the people that they love.”
“State premiers are helping us to make sure that fuel is getting to the parts of the country where it's most needed. The Treasurer and the Minister for Small Business announced today some of the leniency and support that will be offered to small business, which is absolutely critical for construction. I think the parliament would understand that this is a sector that is heavily dominated by small and microbusinesses, and they are going to need that support. The sector enters this challenge on a more stable foundation than it has been on. When we arrived in office, construction costs were rising at 17.3 per cent, the highest in 50 years. On last count, they were rising at 1.8 per cent. That doesn't mean there won't be challenges ahead. We'll work with the sector in partnership to manage them.”
“There is one very important and immediate priority that the sector has put to me, and that is our government doing everything that we can to secure fuel supply. That is why the work of the Prime Minister and the work of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy—which they've spoken to the parliament about this week—is so important to our economy. The minister for energy has talked about releasing fuel reserves and adjusting standards so we can stretch supply further, and there's been the work of Export Finance Australia and the government in using the global and diplomatic channels that we have to make sure that we're at the front of the queue for future supply. The work with National Cabinet, of course, is absolutely essential.”
“Industry have been really clear with us about two main things. First, of course, construction is an essential industry to our country. It is also amongst the largest users of diesel across the Australian economy. When fuel prices rise and when supply is disrupted in some way, that flows directly and immediately on to our construction industry and to our builders. Fuel is also a key part of the manufacturing process of materials that builders rely on. I think the parliament would be aware of the discussion that's been happening in recent weeks about PVC piping; that is a good in which oil is a direct input. The countries we usually buy that product from are experiencing issues managing the fuel shortages.”
“I thank the member for Brisbane for her question, and I acknowledge her outstanding advocacy for better housing opportunities for her wonderful constituents. The war in the Middle East is impacting Australia's economy, and as housing minister I am particularly concerned about the effect on housing construction. At the outset, I want to acknowledge the enormously constructive way this sector has engaged with me and with our government on some of the challenges they are facing. The Master Builders Australia, HIA, civil contractors, construction workers and others have been meeting regularly with me and my office and helping us understand the situation that they face today and indeed what is likely to happen over the coming weeks. They are strong partners of ours and are enormously strong advocates for their members.”
“But—I can tell you—when it comes to housing, they look all the same to me. They say that they care. They say they care about supplies—”
“It is for those families that our government has built the boldest and most ambitious agenda a Commonwealth government has had on housing since the postwar period. We have got a long way to go on this, but, by God, we are making progress: 570,000 homes built since we came to office, 6,000 social and affordable homes completed and 24,000 in planning or construction today. Every single renter in our country has improved rental standards because of the leadership of our prime minister. We've got hundreds of thousands of Australians out of renting and into their first home. And we're seeing approvals turn a corner, up seven per cent year on year. I'm asked about alternative approaches. Opposite us sit three right-wing parties: the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation. They say that they have differences.”
“What a pleasure to get this question from the wonderful member for Bonner. She is so passionate about housing and, particularly, about making sure that we have proper supports in place for women and children fleeing family violence. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with her in the time that she's been in the parliament. Our national housing challenge is affecting the lives of many people around our country. Australians are doing everything right. They're saving up, they're planning for the future and they're thinking in advance. Yet they still reach a point—often much later in their lives than we would like—where they're not able to get that foothold in the housing market that they deserve.”