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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“Then, when they are ready to buy a house after those long years of savings, they get whacked with huge upfront costs like lenders mortgage insurance. Let me paint a picture of what this looks like for a young person living in Brisbane. We might have a young person, a 25-year-old, who has just finished their studies and renting as they begin their life working. This young person might share a dream that's common to millions of people around our country and that is to get into a home of her own. The problem is that, unlike some of her uni mates, this young person doesn't have the bank of mum and dad to give her a leg up on the housing ladder. In Brisbane today, the average house price is about a million dollars, which means that, to buy an average house with a 20 per cent deposit, she would have to save up $200,000.”
“Since we were elected, our policies have made a real difference to many people around our country: Now, we know that the long-term solution to our nation's housing problems is to build, build, build. And that's exactly why the majority of that $43 billion that we are spending on housing is targeted at improving supply, whether it's delivering our 55,000 social and affordable homes, whether it's building those 100,000 homes that we will reserve just for first home buyers or whether it's training more tradies. But we know that Australians need help to get into the housing market now, and so many young people around our country in particular feel that this is slipping out of reach. Right now, young people are saving for years. They are often stuck in a rent trap, paying off someone else's mortgage.”
“And indeed, for most of the nine years that the coalition were in power in our country, they didn't even have a housing minister. Deputy Speaker, you're not going to believe this, but, during those nine years, those opposite built 373 social and affordable homes. That is a national disgrace. Now, under this Prime Minister and under our Labor government, we've made a big switch. We're tackling the housing crisis from every angle. Our government is the boldest and most ambitious Australian government on housing since the post-war period. We've got a $43 billion agenda, and it's focused on three things: (1) building more homes; (2) making renters get a better deal; and (3) getting more Australians into homeownership.”
“It defines the expectations that young people have about their future, and it lays bare the injustice between generations. Housing is about how invested our citizens feel in their democracy, and whether they feel stability, and confidence, as they move through their lives. Housing is about what it means to be Australian and who gets to live a good life in our country. And it's about what we, in this chamber, are willing to do to make sure that they get it. Now, like any great national challenge, changing it is going to fall on our party. Housing is the Labor project of our generation. For a long time, the Commonwealth government had tapped out of our national housing challenge, leaving the hard work of this problem up to the states.”
“And so today, housing is a life-defining challenge for millions of people who live in our country. We hear it from young people, who feel they will never have the chance to own their own home. We hear it from parents, who feel such guilt that they are not going to be able to give their children the stability that they received in their childhood. We hear it from renters, whose rents are going up too high and too often. And, Deputy Speaker Young, we see it in that rising population of homeless Australians who I see in my suburb and you would see in yours. But housing is about even more than the individuals who are affected by this problem. Housing is the foundation on which every Australian experiences life in our country.”
“I ask leave of the House to make a ministerial statement relating to five per cent deposits for all first home buyers. Leave granted. I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people as the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respects to Ngunnawal elders past, present and emerging. And, as always in this housing conversation of ours, I acknowledge that, for all the challenges that we face as a country, our First Nations brothers and sisters face particular issues with housing, and that's something that our government is fiercely committed to tackling. Australia is in the middle of a housing crisis that's been 40 years in the making. For 40 years, our country has not been building enough homes and we've not been backing in first home buyers right across the nation.”
“I don't know what bizarre fantasy land those opposite have been living in. What on earth are they talking about? I heard that these questions were getting asked in the other place today, and I thought, 'God, the shadow housing minister hasn't had his Weet-Bix for breakfast this morning.' I don't know what he's going on about. The fact that we've got people in the House of Representatives asking ridiculous questions like this—get a clue, guys! Let me talk to you about our government's tax policies. They're absolutely clear.”
“We can do it, and Labor believe that we should. Speaker, we know that housing is a challenge for people right around the country. That's why you are seeing our government step up and tackle this crisis from every single angle. We are building more homes, we're helping renters get a better deal and we are bloody proud to be helping more Australians realise their dream of homeownership.”
“All of us speak to younger people in our community and hear about the fact that that 20 per cent deposit is the main barrier for the next generation getting access to homeownership. The expansion of this five per cent deposit scheme will change lives. This will mean tens of thousands of additional Australians who will get the security, stability and joy that owning your own home brings. The PM and I both talked yesterday about our fantastic visit to Abbie, Lachie and Chilli. They spoke to us about this experience they have of spending their 20s paying off their own mortgage, not someone else's. Well, we're fighting to give more Australians that opportunity. They're just one of so many families that I meet whose lives have been changed by our policies. We want to expand the opportunity for homeownership to more young Australians.”
“More than a million households have gotten a 45 per cent increase to Commonwealth rent assistance. Half a million homes have been built, new housing approvals are up 30 per cent, and we've got 28,000 social and affordable homes in planning or construction today. We know that the key to addressing Australia's housing crisis is to build, build, build. We've got to build more homes more quickly. That's why the majority of that $43 billion package is aimed at improving supply. Alongside those measures our party has a strong view that we should be doing more to help first home buyers to get into the market now. Yesterday, our prime minister announced that from 1 October every single first home buyer around the country can get into the housing market with just a five per cent deposit. I know it's not just me.”
“I want to thank the member for Blair for his question. He is such a big supporter of giving his community better opportunities for homeownership, and he tops the league table. Since our government was elected, 3,416 people in his local community have got into homeownership with the backing of the Albanese government, and I know that the member cannot wait to get back to his beautiful part of our country to tell potential first home buyers that even more support is on the way from the Albanese government. Housing is very tough in Australia today. That's why our government has built a $43 billion agenda, with policies that are making a real difference to the lives of Australians. Just since we were elected, 180,000 people around our country have bought their first home with our five per cent deposit program.”
“We've got to build more homes, and that's the ultimate answer to our housing issues as a country. Since we came to office about half a million homes have been built in Australia. A lot of progress has been made on this front. Construction costs have stabilised. We've got the opposition leader piping up here. I might remind her that, when she left office, construction costs in this country were rising 17 per cent a year. That's the highest in 50 years. That number has come down to 1.6 per cent, below inflation, where it belongs. We're seeing real progress on skills and apprenticeships.”
“We delivered immensely on the housing agenda in the last term, and we're seeing real results for Australians right across the country. Just in the last term, 180,000 people around this country got into first home ownership with the backing of the Albanese government, and, in case you haven't heard, that program will be uncapped and available to every first home buyer in the country on 1 October. It's not just homeownership. In that last term, a million households around the country got access to a 45 per cent increase to Commonwealth rent assistance, and, of course, Mr Speaker, you're well aware that we've got 28,000 social and community houses under construction at the moment. What we know about our housing shortage is that there's really only one way out of it, and that is building.”
“I thank the member for Deakin for his question. I'm thinking back to the first speech he gave to this chamber just a few short weeks ago, when he spoke with such passion about his desire to see young people in his community have the opportunity to settle permanently in Melbourne's beautiful eastern suburbs. I know he's hugely proud of being part of a government that's tackling this housing crisis confronting our country from every single angle. We're in the middle of a housing crisis that's been cooking in our nation for 40 years. For 40 years our country has not been building enough homes. Whether it's a generation of young people who feel locked out of the market or renters whose rent is going up too high too fast, the fundamental problem that we face in housing in this country is that we have a housing shortage.”
“We're tackling the housing crisis from every angle, building more homes, making it better to rent and making it easier to buy. On 1 October, our government will open up a realistic pathway for tens of thousands of Aussies, this year, to get into their own home. (Time expired)”
“They said they never would have been able to do this without the five per cent deposit scheme. They just described this immense relief that they feel that they can spend their mid- and late 20s paying off their own mortgage, not someone else's. They're fully settled into this beautiful home in Canberra. They've got a gorgeous little dog, Chilli—not as cute as Toto but definitely up there. Exactly, PM—right here for you. And they told us about how they're hosting these regular movie nights in their own home. It's just these simple pleasures that come with that stability that we've been able to support them with. That's not all on homeownership. We'll expand this scheme on 1 October. Before the end of the year, Help to Buy will provide the opportunity, eventually, for thousands of people to get into homeownership.”
“So many Australians that I talk to are in housing distress because they just can't see that pathway to getting into the housing market. This five per cent program expansion will change the lives of tens of thousands of Australians every single year. It's actually not that often that the federal parliament can do something that meaningful that quickly. We saw the proof in the pudding this morning. The PM mentioned that we got the chance to meet, with the member for Canberra, two of her fantastic constituents, Lachie and Abbie. This is an absolutely gorgeous young couple who have just bought their own home, and they've done it with the backing of our government with a five per cent deposit. Lachie and Abbie talked about this experience they've had of buying their own home.”
“Since we came to government we've already seen 180,000 Australians get into homeownership with our government's backing, but let's be absolutely clear: first home buyers in this country need and deserve more support, and that is exactly what they're going to get under the Albanese government. Today the Prime Minister announced that we're expanding our five per cent deposit scheme to be available for the first time to every single first home buyer in our country. We promised we'd do this at the election, and we're delivering three months early. These changes will now roll out from 1 October this year. There'll be no income limits. There'll be no limit on the number places, and we'll have house price caps that actually reflect the cost of the homes where you live.”
“I thank the member for Griffith for her question. She's only been here for 3½ months, and she's already a hugely powerful advocate for helping more people in her community get into the dream of homeownership. Housing is a life-defining challenge for millions of people around our country. We hear about it from young people, many of whom feel they will never have the chance to own their own home. We hear it from parents who feel immense guilt that they cannot give their children the stability that they grew up with. We hear it from renters whose rents are going up too high and too often.”
“This is not what the Australian people voted for in May. The Leader of the Opposition said that she wanted to do things differently, but Tom Forrest from Urban Taskforce Australia said the move that's being made here is 'a throwback to the failed housing policies of the Dutton leadership'. The opposition has a really clear choice here. They can continue to be housing hypocrites, complaining about a crisis that they were instrumental in creating and then voting against measures to try to address it, or they can do what the Australian people so clearly are asking of this parliament, and that is for us to work together to address this critical challenge in the lives of the people we represent.”
“I can report to the House that, just a few hours ago, the ABS released data that shows that building approvals are up 27.4 per cent on the previous year. This term we're going to be doing more. We're doing more to help first home buyers and we're doing more to build more homes. I want to work with colleagues right across the parliament in order to deliver those outcomes for Australians. Indeed, I met with the crossbench yesterday. We had a really good briefing about some of the challenges that are facing us in construction. It seems to me that we've got a whole parliament of people who want to work together on this national issue, except for those opposite. Speaker, the first move that the coalition made this term on housing—you're not going to believe it—was to try to block the construction of 80,000 desperately needed new homes.”
“In our first term, our government took the Commonwealth from being a negligent bystander on housing to building the boldest and most ambitious housing agenda that a Commonwealth government has had since the Second World War. We're investing $43 billion in three things. We're building more homes, we're helping renters get a better deal and we're getting more Australians into homeownership, and this is having a real impact on the lives of the people we represent. In the last term, more than 175,000 Australians got into their first home with the backing of our government, more than a million Australian households benefited from a 45 per cent increase in Commonwealth rent assistance, and half a million homes were built in our country. Home building is turning a real corner.”
“I thank the member for Petrie for her question, and I want to acknowledge the wonderful and uplifting first speech she gave to this chamber on Monday. She's a real up-and-comer. Landed perfectly. One of the consistent themes of our Labor first speeches has been the experience of hardship that a lot of our new MPs have brought to this chamber, and for so many of our incoming class of 2025, nothing has been handed to them. It takes so much courage and grit to see those challenges through and to get to a point where you're standing in this place and representing your community, and, again, housing has been so central to so many of the stories we've heard and that pride in being a part of a government that's stepped up on housing.”
“It makes me really worried that they have learnt nothing and heard nothing from the very clear message on housing that was sent to all of us at the May election. Our government is back to work. We're focused on the cost of living, on housing and on Medicare. The coalition are busy fighting culture wars against non-existent enemies and taking the old coalition brand of destruction and dysfunction into the new term. Now, they have a choice this parliament: are they going to continue to be housing hypocrites, or are they going to come with us and work on this great national challenge that our government is confronting?”
“Then they brought to the election something I thought I would never see: a housing policy that would have built fewer homes in this country and made existing housing more expensive through their dud 'super for housing' policy. I didn't think this could get any worse. Indeed, I approached this parliament with a sense of hope and optimism. We got the first question in the parliament on housing—I felt fantastic about that—and we had an opposition saying they wanted to be constructive. But yesterday my hopes were absolutely dashed. The first move this opposition has decided to make on housing is to try to bulldoze the construction of 80,000 desperately needed new rental homes—80,000 new quality rental homes. Trying to block this proposal is crazy, is bizarre and is exactly the opposite of what our country needs to be doing.”
“That's why, in our second term, we're going to build on these foundations and go bigger, bolder and faster. I'm asked about alternative approaches. We have seen quite a few. First, we saw the coalition spend nine wasteful years in government doing absolutely nothing about this problem. You'll remember me mentioning last term that the coalition were so checked out of housing as an issue that for most of the time they were in government they didn't even have a housing minister. They spent the last three years in opposition in this parliament trying to slow us down or block our positive approaches. They delayed housing for people experiencing homelessness, they delayed housing for women and children fleeing family violence and they delayed new housing coming onto the mainstream housing market.”
“I thank the member for Brisbane for her question. She's already a fierce advocate for delivering more homes in her community, and I know she takes great pride in being part of a government which is tackling the housing crisis from every angle. We've got a housing crisis in our country because for 40 years our country hasn't been building enough homes. That's why most of the $43 billion we are investing to address this problem is going to building, building, building. We're making really important progress on this. In the last term in parliament about half a million homes were built around the country, and we're on the pathway to 55,000 desperately needed social and affordable homes to come online. As a nation, we've got to do more. No-one accepts that more than our government.”
“The Commonwealth has some control over this, and that's something we're working on towards the August productivity roundtable. Housing is going to be an absolutely foremost priority of our government in this second term, and indeed it must be for the whole parliament. Housing is in crisis in our country. Every single one of us is duty-bound to spend our time and energy trying to find real solutions to the problems that we face. My door is open to everyone in this parliament, from every party, from every part of our country, to help us work together to make a difference to the lives of Australians.”
“About half a million homes were built in Australia over the last term. We've got 28,000 social and affordable homes under construction in our country right now. In our second term, we will build on those foundations. We're going to go further. We're going to go faster. We're going to go bigger. In this second term, we'll deliver more help to first home buyers. Soon, every single first home buyer in this country will be eligible to get government support to get into their first home. We'll build more homes, including 100,000 homes that will be set aside exclusively for first home buyers, with no competition from investors, and we're working with the industry at the moment to address one of the biggest challenges that we face in housing, which is that is too hard to build a house in our country today.”
“We are implementing a now $43 billion agenda to improve the housing opportunities that are faced by Australians. Last term, we took the Commonwealth from being, really, a negligent bystander on this critical national problem to being easily the boldest and most ambitious Australian government on housing since the Second World War. We're making it easier for people to buy, we're making it better to rent in this country and we are building more homes. That has had real implications for Australians in our first term. In our last term, 175,000 Australians took advantage of our five per cent deposit program, getting into their first home for the first time. More than a million households around our country benefited from our 45 per cent increase to Commonwealth rent assistance.”
“Speaker, I congratulate you on your re-election as the Speaker of this House. I look forward to three more years of a very-well-run parliament. I hope we didn't get things off on the wrong foot, Speaker! I am a part of a Labor caucus today which has now heard nine firsts features of the incoming class of 2025. We are humbled, we are amazed and we are inspired by these remarkable people who join us in this parliament, and I include in that the member for Hughes, who has asked me this question. Almost every one of these new MPs spoke about housing as a core concern in their electorates and about their immense pride at being part of a government which has such a massive housing agenda. The Albanese government is partway through a critical national project.”
“We've got a plan to build 55,000 social and affordable homes. They've got a plan to build precisely zero. I'm asked about threats. I think it's pretty obvious from here. The threat is actually sitting right in front of me. Coalition cuts are coming for housing. We know that, if they win the election, $20 billion in housing funding is going to disappear overnight. Of course, their housing policies, including their dud super-for-housing policy, are going to raise prices and build fewer homes, making the housing crisis worse. Like all of the social and economic problems facing our country, it's going to take a Labor government to address Australia's housing challenges, and that's exactly what we're doing. (Time expired)”
“The planning reforms that we initiated at the state level are starting to bear fruit. We're making real investments in modern construction approaches, and we're starting to see those improvements that we're all looking for. Housing completions across the country are up, and approvals across the country are up. Really importantly, we are starting to make headway on those generational investments that our government have made on social and affordable housing. We made a commitment to deliver 55,000 social and affordable homes around the country. Speaker, I can report to you that, as of today, we have 28,000 homes around the country in planning and construction—28,000. I want to contrast that with the approach of those opposite, who, as you know, did not build a single social and affordable home in their entire first two terms in government.”
“The cost of building a home when we came to government was rising at 17 per cent. That is the highest rate in half a century. New builds were down, approvals were on a steep decline and, of course, all of our housing affordability metrics were getting worse. That's what you get when, for almost a decade, you have people sitting on the benches behind me who didn't even bother to have a housing minister. In 2022, of course, this all changed. About half-a-million homes have been built in our country since we came to office, and the PM has led the National Cabinet push to commit to try to build 1.2 million homes over the coming five years. The incredible labour shortage that we inherited has dramatically improved—about a 44 per cent reduction in vacancies for construction workers.”
“I want to thank the member for Boothby for this question and acknowledge the really significant housing expertise she's brought to our caucus in this term. It was absolutely fantastic too to be in her community of Panorama, where the member and I met Housing Australia Future Fund tenants. Every single one of those houses is being lived in by a person whose life has been transformed by our government's commitment to social and affordable housing. I've said to the parliament before that we've got a housing crisis in this country that's been a generation in the making, particularly exacerbated by the decade of waste and neglect that we saw from the other side of the chamber. When we were elected in May 2022 we inherited a housing horror show. Let me take you through some of the numbers.”
“One hundred and fifty thousand Australians have gotten into homeownership through that scheme since we've been in government, and there's more help on the way. After many months of blocking and delay by the Liberals and the Greens, Labor's Help to Buy scheme is coming.”
“I want to thank my friend the member for Tangney for his question. He's a fantastic advocate for more housing in his community and right here in the parliament. We all know that we're in the midst of a housing crisis that's been a generation in the making, and, after a decade of complete neglect by those opposite, we're tackling this problem from every angle. We know that the long-term fix here is to build more homes. That's why we're working with the states to build 1.2 million homes over five years, and it's why we're making those huge generational investments in social and affordable housing. But first home buyers need our help right now. That's why we've expanded the Home Guarantee Scheme.”
“I'm very happy to work with him to push the Tasmanian government to move faster. I can tell you: no-one wants the states to move faster on this than me. It's a really important part of the government's urgent housing agenda, and I thank him for his question.”
“Part of that agreement is asking all the states to sign up to the important new rental standards, which are things like ending no-fault evictions, banning rent bidding, limiting excessive rent increases and ensuring minimum standards for rental accommodation. The member asked about the performance of the Tasmanian government. Each of the states report to me about their progress. The last report I received was in December 2024. Tasmania reported that they have completed seven of nine of their requirements and that two of nine are in progress. I see you shaking your head. The national shelter numbers are from a few months earlier, which probably explains the discrepancy. But, if the member doesn't mind, I'd really appreciate the opportunity to sit down with him and go through the report.”
“This tells us not only that we have a long-term issue with housing in our country but also that, just because of housing, the experience of low-income people across Australia is very different to how it was 40 years ago. Implicit in the member's question, I think, is an acknowledgement that these important issues of the rights of renters sit at the state level. Almost all previous governments have basically said, 'We want nothing to do with this problem,' but that's not the case with our government. The Prime Minister, of course, has placed housing at the very heart of our government's agenda. So, instead of ignoring this problem, we have sat down with the states and made an agreement—the National Housing Accord.”
“I want to thank the member for Clark for his question about a subject that we have a shared passion for—that is, the situation faced by renters across our country right now. I know that the member will be meeting with his constituents, as I do. They are not necessarily young renters but renters who are middle-aged, who've got children of their own and who are living in that precarious situation where they're getting moved from property to property and sometimes having to move their kids from school to school. This is something that I don't want to see. People sometimes ask me, in this job, what gets me out of bed in the morning. One of them is this. If we go back to around the year I was born, 60 per cent of young low-income people across our country owned their own home. Today that number is 20 per cent.”
“On our side of the parliament, we're training 55,000 tradies that we need to help us build more homes for the country. Over there they call fee-free TAFE 'wasteful spending'. We have a really clear contrast here between a bold and ambitious government and a coalition that has absolutely no plan for housing. Remember that when they were last in government, they were so checked out of housing that for most of the time they were in government they didn't even have a Commonwealth housing minister. They've spent the last three years trying to block and delay critical housing measures. There's a choice here between going back to the bad old days with a negative opposition that ignored the problem for a decade, or letting the Albanese government get on with the job of dealing with housing challenges faced by Australians.”
“On that side, they produced 9,000 social and affordable homes in their entire decade in office. On this side of the parliament, we've invested $1.2 billion in crisis housing in three years. In three years we've invested 20 times as much as the coalition did in their nine years in office—20 times as much. On this side of the parliament, we've helped 140,000 Australians get into the property market with lower mortgage deposits. That's more than double those on the other side of the parliament, who only helped 60,000. On this side of the parliament, we've helped a million Australian households struggling to pay their rent with a 45 per cent increase in Commonwealth rent assistance. On that side, they didn't increase Commonwealth rent assistance once beyond CPI in the entire nine years they were in office.”
“On that side, we have an opposition that wants to cut $19 billion out of housing funding in the middle of a housing crisis. On this side of the parliament, we're working with the states to build 1.2 million homes around the country. On that side, they want to lower the national ambition and scrap the housing target altogether. On this side of the parliament, we're investing $10 billion to build tens of thousands of social and affordable homes through the Housing Australia Future Fund. On that side, they want to scrap the Housing Australia Future Fund, rip up the $10 billion and instead start a $10 billion long-lunch tab for corporate bosses. Are you serious? On this side of the parliament, we're investing in building 55,000 social and affordable homes.”
“I really want to thank the member for Wills for that question. Housing is an absolutely massive issue in his electorate. We've met together with some of his young constituents, and they've talked to me about the difficulties that they're facing with this urgent national problem. It's partly due to the advocacy of the member for Wills that we are part of the boldest and most ambitious Australian government on housing in more than a generation. When it comes to housing, there's going to be a really clear choice ahead for the Australian people. On this side of the parliament we have a Labor government that's investing $32 billion to build more homes for Australians, to help renters and to support Australians into home ownership.”
“They even opposed our national housing target Imagine looking at the situation we face today and thinking that the answer is to cut billions out of our housing approach and lower the nation's ambitions? What frustrates me so much about this is that, when the Liberals want to find money for the things that they value, they do it. They'll move heaven and earth for taxpayer funded caviar and steak tartare for the boss, but God help you if you're looking for more Commonwealth investment in housing. On that side of the chamber, they're hungry for subsidised long lunches; on this side, we're hungry for more housing. That's why our government is investing billions in social and affordable homes Australia needs. We want more affordable housing; they want more affordable corporate lunches. It's all about priorities, isn't it?”
“And I want you to remember, Speaker, that, for most of that period they were in office, they were so checked out of this problem that they didn't even have a Commonwealth housing minister. Unfortunately, that attitude has continued through the wrecking and blocking that we've seen from the opposition on housing over the last three years. The opposition leader blocked the Housing Australia Future Fund, personally delaying the construction of tens of thousands of social and affordable homes that our country desperately needed. The opposition leader blocked 40,000 aged-care workers and nurses from getting into homeownership, and he'll abolish that program too if he's elected. The opposition opposed build to rent, which will create 80,000 new rental homes.”
“That's why, after the wasted decade, the Commonwealth is back, leading on housing and investing $32 billion. We're building 55,000 social and affordable homes around the country with our big housing build. That's part of the 1.2 million homes we're working to build with the states. We're training more tradies, we're creating more infrastructure and we're directly investing in homes ourselves, just like the Australian government used to. In round 1 of the Housing Australia Future Fund, we'll deliver 13,700 new homes for Australians. Just in that round, that's more social and affordable housing than those opposite delivered in their entire nine years in office.”
“I want to thank the member for Cunningham for her question. She's a huge housing advocate, and, of course, we announced a couple of weeks ago that our government is directly funding new affordable homes right in her community in the Illawarra through the Housing Australia Future Fund. We've had some good economic news recently, but there's no question that many Australians are facing real pressures right now, and housing is a big part of that picture. Whether it's families living in insecure rentals or whether it's that generation of young people who feel that homeownership is slipping out of their reach, we've got a housing crisis in our country which has been cooking for a generation. We know that the long-term fix here is to build, build, build.”
“That's why I'm proud to support this bill. The Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 will strengthen the law against hate speech in this country. It will create new criminal offences to stamp out violence and hatred. It's my hope that this law will send a really clear and unambiguous message that the threats that this community has experienced—these acts of violence, these acts of hatred—are utterly unacceptable in this country. I'll be supporting the bill because it's unacceptable to me and, on behalf of the people of Hotham, it's utterly unacceptable to our community.”