Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to begin by commending the member for Blaxland for bringing this important issue to the attention of the House. The contribution he and the member for Lindsay have made will give their constituents great hope for effective representation in this chamber from these two new members of parliament. Regrettably, I cannot say the same for the member for Cook, because I think he completely missed the point of the issue that is here before us. His speech was a great exposition on issues to do with inflation and interest rates—which I am not saying are not part of the problem—but he really does not understand that out there in the community there is growing desperation about the issue of housing and rental affordability. It is true to say that his government really fell asleep at the watch on these important issues and that Labor in government have made these issues very much part of our agenda for the future.

I am not surprised that recent research data from NATSEM, a very authoritative body based here in Canberra, shows that more than a million of our fellow Australians are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent or a mortgage and that, arising from this, housing affordability in our country has fallen to record lows. The average home cost four times the average wage back in 1996. In 2007 that factor had risen to seven times the average annual wage. It is no wonder that, for many young people and for many families, the idea of ever owning their own home is no longer part of the Australian dream—a dream that we in earlier generations grew up with, believing that it was within the means of all to aspire to home ownership. I say that because, when you look at the average first home mortgage of about $300,000, the interest rate legacy left by the former government has now made repayments on that amount in the order of $2,700 per month. That is a huge impost on many of the people that I represent.

It is not just mortgage stress that is an issue. When you look at the rental market in Sydney, in the year ending September last year the increases were in the order of 14 per cent on an annual basis, and in places like Perth they were up around 23 per cent. Rental vacancy rates have halved since 2004. Like the electorates of the members for Blaxland and Lindsay, the issue of housing and rental affordability is also a major one in my electorate of Throsby and in the Illawarra region generally. When I looked at the most recent 2006 census data across the Illawarra, I found that nearly 11,000 households were suffering mortgage stress. That data is a bit out of date now, with the consecutive interest rate rises that came after that data was collected. But, in the five-year period from the 2001 census, there has been a 100 per cent increase in the number of households suffering mortgage stress. Over 40 per cent of households in private rental arrangements in my electorate of Throsby are in rental stress, paying more than 30 per cent of their income on rents, and the queues for public housing keep getting longer and longer—no surprise, because of the impact of the huge cuts of around $3 billion in real terms from social housing under the Howard government.

While there are no silver bullets to cure the affordability issues that I touched on tonight, the Rudd Labor government is committed to a comprehensive, affordable housing agenda. For the first time, the Minister for Housing has been proactive in raising a number of innovative suggestions to try and deal with this legacy from an uncaring government for whom the issue of affordability of housing and rents did not even register.

Could I just say that in terms of those policies, I am very pleased about the fleshing out of the details of the first homebuyers saving scheme. I think that will be a great incentive for young people to save in a tax-effective account for a deposit for their first home. I am very keen about the provision of funding for infrastructure so that we can hopefully reduce state and local government development charges. The investment scheme for rental properties at 20 per cent below market rates I think will help relieve some of the obvious pressure that exists. (Time expired)

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