Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to the Treasurer's comments last year that the idea of a housing bubble emerging was 'lazy analysis'. Yesterday the Treasury Secretary stated:

When you look at the housing price bubble evidence, it's unequivocally the case in Sydney.

When it comes to housing prices in Sydney, does the Treasurer agree with himself or with the secretary to the Treasury?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no doubt that, since my comments last year, housing prices have increased in Sydney. I think we should be welcoming an increase in housing values. Anyone out there who has a loan would be wishing that their home is worth more than their loan; that is what they would actually want. I know that is a difficult concept for Labor to get their heads around—that you actually want to have equity in your own home. I know that is difficult because Labor loves debt and they love other people carrying debt to help to pay for their lifestyles. But, actually, there are a lot of Australians out there with a mortgage who hope that the value of their home increases above the value of their mortgage.

Of course, there are two issues here: there are housing prices and then there is housing affordability. We have been concerned about the challenges associated with housing affordability. There are a number of responses. Firstly, at the meeting of treasurers in April this year, as I announced at the time—but clearly our opponents were not paying attention— the Victorian Labor Treasurer is heading up a task force on behalf of all the treasurers to look at ways we can help to improve housing affordability in Australia. Secondly, the biggest issue to address rising house prices and low affordability at the same time is to increase the supply of housing. Under this government, 198,000 new dwellings have been constructed in the last 12 months, which is 19,000 higher than at any other time under the previous Labor government. Construction in housing is up 12 per cent in the last 12 months. So we are actually working together with the states to increase the level of supply.

As I have said in this place and in numerous places previously, whenever I travel overseas and speak to rating agencies and banks, they raise the issue of housing prices in Australia and the potential risk; and I quite rightly point out, as does anyone who analyses the situation, that we have a shortage of supply which is also contributing to rising house prices. The final point I would make is this: we want integrity around the purchasing of housing in Australia. That is why we have taken a tough stand in relation to foreign investment in residential housing. One of the things that Labor is left out on is that they are not yet supporting our tough stand on foreign investment in residential housing. So please do not lecture us in a hypocritical way.