Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I do not want for a second the price of people's homes, the worth of people's biggest asset, to fall. That is the last thing I want, and it comes passing strange for the Labor Party to say that they want the value of people's homes to fall. That is what they are saying—that they want the value of people's homes to fall. Let me read from a statement which came out just a few minutes ago from the Governor of the Reserve Bank. He said:

Credit is recording moderate growth overall, with stronger lending to businesses—

That is good—

and growth in lending to the housing market broadly steady …

That is good too. The Governor of the Reserve Bank went on to say:

Dwelling prices continue to rise strongly in Sydney, though trends have been more varied in a number of other cities.

Let me repeat that:

Dwelling prices continue to rise strongly in Sydney, though trends have been more varied in a number of other cities.

Why does this Leader of the Opposition want to punish the people of Sydney? Why does he want to punish the people of Sydney? Why does he want to make policy based on what is happening in one city for the whole of the country?

What this proves is that this Leader of the Opposition is a menace to the economic welfare of the people of Australia. That is what he is. He just does not get it. He does not like aspiration. He does not like people who want to have a go. It is a party that is more interested in welfare than work, it is a party that does not even want people to work for the dole and it is a party which—as a result of this repeated line of questioning we can clearly understand—wants your house price to fall. That is the last thing that any responsible government would want and it is certainly not something that this government would ever consider.

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