Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was going to say that I don't have the same sound effects as the member opposite! I rise to speak about my fantastic electorate of Lingiari, and I think it's a bit rich of the opposition to now care about the cost of living and the cost of Australian mortgages. But I want to quickly touch on the contribution by the member for Riverina. I do acknowledge the work that was done in the two years of COVID, but there was no acknowledgment of all of the organisations, the frontline doctors and nurses and the Aboriginal health services that worked tirelessly in the area to get COVID under control. While the government played a role, there certainly has to be a lot of acknowledgment of those frontline workers. I know that the member for Robertson and other people on this side of the House did a lot in that time. Perhaps if the opposition could have managed the economy, formed an energy policy or even kept an eye on rising inflation, we wouldn't be in the situation we are in now.

I know that in my electorate of Lingiari, people will find the opposition statement particularly hypocritical. For 10 years the opposition had a chance to invest in Lingiari and the Northern Territory, and they didn't. In just six months Labor has shown it is a trustworthy government that delivers for Lingiari. This is not something the former government could have said. Labor has been in power for six months—six months in which we've begun the long, hard work of cleaning up the absolute waste and mismanagement of the previous coalition government. As the opposition well knows, we are facing challenging global economic headwinds. Major economies around the world are struggling with the cost of inflation, and responsible action from government is needed. The most recent federal budget is a targeted and responsible budget that delivers on our election commitments. We are delivering on our promises to get wages moving, we are delivering on our promise for better vocational education and we are delivering an historic agreement with states and territories to deliver one million new homes for Australians. This will include 40,000 social and affordable houses. This will increase the housing stock around the country. To match this, Labor also brought forward our Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee. In just six short weeks, hundreds of Australians have already taken advantage of the guarantee. We are also working hard on implementing our Help to Buy Scheme, which will lower the cost of mortgages.

What have the Liberals had to say on this scheme? Nothing but criticism. It's good to see that the opposition is now willing to work with us on lowering the cost of mortgages for Australian people. The former government had a decade to address the housing supply crisis and make homes and mortgages cheaper. They didn't. Labor will do what the former government couldn't and we will step up to the plate on housing.

For my electorate of Lingiari this will be critical. We need more homes built for people, not just in the cities but out bush in our communities and in our regional towns. Unlike the previous government, this Labor government cares about Territorians. This Labor government cares about our regional towns. It cares about the bush. Labor took to the election a commitment of $100 million for immediate investment in homelands. Labor is delivering on this promise. Labor took the $120 million Central Australia plan to the election, and we are delivering it. This plan is a lifeline for Mparntwe Alice Springs, which saw nothing but neglect from the coalition government.

We are delivering better roads and better connectivity for our communities and investing in jobs in our regions. That's what Labor governments do. They deliver for the people of the Northern Territory. And I am working every day in making sure that I work with local government, the Territory government and the federal government, together with traditional owners, to look at land availability for housing. This is what it's all about: practical measures that will address housing issues in my electorate, not just paying lip-service to these issues and ignoring matters on the ground in my electorate. Thank you.

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