Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 and related bills. I listened intently to the member for Grey's contribution, and I thank him for it. It is extraordinary, however, that, faced with the housing affordability crisis, his answer is: 'What about mission creep? Mission creep is something that we need to consider.' We on this side of the House recognise that the housing affordability crisis we are in at the moment requires all levels of government to work together. While the problem is complex, it ought not be intractable. That's the key here—not to be concerned about mission creep but to be working with all levels of government to make sure that people can afford their own home. It is extraordinary to hear from those opposite their concern about Commonwealth funding in this space when they were willing to find people's renovations to their homes and now they are unwilling to help fund people getting into their first home.

My parents worked hard, saved up and were able to buy a house four years after arriving in this country. They still live there today. It's a modest three-bedroom townhouse. They never had enough money to renovate it, so the tiles in the bathroom are very, very retro. While my childhood home won't win any design awards, it was important to us. It was the foundation on which the success of my family was built. It gave us the security, stability and a sense of community. That is the importance of a place to call home.

It's not unique to my family; housing is the bedrock of the lives of so many people in Australia. I would like to quote from the Productivity Commission report into housing released in August last year:

Housing is a basic human need and is central to our physical and mental health and quality of life.

But we know it homeownership is getting harder and harder for so many people. The great Australian dream is becoming just a pipedream. The challenges of paying a mortgage are felt most acutely in electorates like mine in Sydney; 24.8 per cent of households in Reid are in mortgage stress—that is, their mortgage repayments are above 30 per cent of their household income. That is significantly more than the rest of Australia, which sits at 14½ per cent. These figures are from 2021, before the current interest rate rises.

While the story around house prices is what fills newspaper columns, it's rents that really reflect the cost of housing. I quote again from the Productivity Commission report:

About a quarter of Australians rent in the private market. More Australians are renting, for more of their lives, than in the past.

Year on year, rents in my electorate are rising. In Lidcombe they're up 12.2 per cent, in Homebush they're up 13 per cent and in Breakfast Point they're up 16 per cent. Housing is chewing up more and more of household income. And, when it comes to social and affordable housing, in New South Wales the need is acute. There are more than 51,000 applicants on the waitlist, with 6,500 applicants given priority status. That's 6,500 priority applicants left waiting. They are the most vulnerable: women and children fleeing domestic violence, and people with disabilities. For those not deemed a priority, they're expected waiting time is more than 10 years. Imagine waiting 10 years for a place to call home.

The housing affordability crisis has been around for a long time. I am going to quote from Jason Falinski, the former member for Mackellar:

… home ownership, one of the building blocks of Australian society, has been falling for the last 30 years. In my view, this represents an urgent moral call for action by governments of all levels to restore the Australian dream for this generation and the ones that follow.

He didn't see this as mission creep; he saw this as something that was core to what the Commonwealth and state governments ought to be doing. And he said this in 2021: 'Here are some points I think we can all agree on in this place. Secure and quality housing is important for everyone's wellbeing. We are in a housing affordability crisis.' And, finally: 'This crisis has been brewing for many years.'

So, if we can agree on these points, the question is: what did those opposite do when they were in power for nine years? The short answer: nothing. In fact, they actively worked to make the situation worse. The Abbott government abolished the National Housing Supply Council. The council, established in 2008 under the Rudd Labor government, was there to monitor housing demand, supply and affordability in Australia. It gave us a better understanding of the problem. That council and those insights—now gone. Those opposite also failed to convene a meeting of the state and territory ministers in five years. We know how important it is that states, territories and the Commonwealth work together to address housing affordability. But those opposite could not get on board.

In Australia we have major iconic infrastructure: the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, the Snowy Hydro scheme. We are a country obsessed with major infrastructure projects. Well, I want this to be the next major infrastructure project: social and affordable housing. The Albanese Labor government has been unashamedly ambitious with our housing policy. Our housing policy sees social and affordable housing as a key plank to solving the housing affordability crisis. That's the difference when you have a government that recognises housing equity as being important. It's good for those who need to access social housing—for women and children fleeing domestic violence; for older women, who are increasingly facing homelessness; for our veterans; for First Nations families; for those with disabilities.

We have established the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund. The returns on the fund will build 30,000 new social and affordable homes in the fund's first five years, including 4,000 homes for women and children impacted by domestic violence, or older women at risk of homelessness. In an historic deal, we are working with states, territories and the private sector to build more homes. We have set an ambitious target of one million homes by the end of decade. This is big, nation-building stuff that will transform the lives of so many.

In September last year, the Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness, Julie Collins, came to Burwood in my electorate to meet with community housing providers, local council and organisations assisting the homeless. I want to thank the organisations for participating in that roundtable: Burwood Community Welfare Services, St Paul's Parish, St Vincent de Paul Society, Bridge Housing, Women's and Girls' Emergency Centre, Eurella and Burwood Council. Many of the participants said it was the first time they had an opportunity to speak about the challenges with housing affordability and homelessness with a federal minister. I'm grateful to the minister for taking the time to meet with the community. This is a government that cares. It is one that is listening and acting to address the housing affordability crisis.

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