Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macnamara for his question. He's a big supporter of affordable housing. He's doing great work as well as the Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness. The area that he represents is where this front line of services often is, and I thank him for the work that he's doing, not just on behalf of the government but also on behalf of needy Australians.

This morning I was in Lawson, a suburb here, with the wonderful member Alicia Payne, and it's in her seat. Today, we were with a young couple, Lachie and Abby. They finished university a short time ago at the University of Wollongong and have moved back to Canberra. And, at age 23, they were able to get into homeownership as a direct result of the five per cent policy. They've been able to get a puppy—it doesn't come with the home; that's just an added bonus—and little Chilli was very cute, I've got to say. They're an example of a family who are really benefiting directly from government policy.

In April, at our campaign launch, in Perth, we committed to give every first home buyer the chance to buy their own home with just a five per cent deposit, and to cover the cost of lenders mortgage insurance. We said these changes would start on 1 January next year, but we want to get on with it, which is why we've brought it forward to 1 October. Together these changes wipe years off the time it takes to save for a loan. Instead of having to pay to assist someone else's mortgage—or what they did for a short period of time, which was to stay in Canberra with Abby's parents—what they've been able to do is get themselves into homeownership, putting those hard-earned dollars into an asset that will serve them for the future.

This announcement builds on action we announced just yesterday about boosting supply—fast-tracking 26,000 homes that are waiting for environmental approval, encouraging more prefab and different construction types to build more homes more quickly and pausing the National Construction Code for four years. My government is determined to help people in homeownership, to help people into rentals and to help social housing as well, which is precisely what it is doing in spite of the opposition of those opposite.

See this speech in context