Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on this ministerial statement and the motion to take note of the Albanese government's announcement of five per cent deposits for all first home buyers. I listened to the previous speaker. He said our housing policies sounded impressive. They were so impressive, he couldn't bring himself to vote for any of them. That's how impressive they were. They couldn't find a housing bill that we brought into the House that they wanted to support. I'm just a bit bewildered by the previous speaker because he represents a Gold Coast seat in South-East Queensland; I represent a seat based around Ipswich, and we've been growing in population by at least 10,000 every year for the last five or six years. The Gold Coast has about 753,000 people living in it. In 2022, it had 722,000 people living in it, so it's grown by about 30,000 in that period of time.

He should drive along Pacific Highway, go down past Pacific Fair and drive his way down the Gold Coast—I think he represents a seat on the northern Gold Coast. If he goes around Palm Beach, he'll see housing and unit constructions everywhere on the Gold Coast. He must be blind. He sort of reminds me of Russell Hinze, the former National Party cabinet minister, who couldn't see any brothels or casinos through Fortitude Valley during the 'moonlight state'. I don't know where the member for Caldwell has been. The Gold Coast is booming, and housing construction's going up everywhere. This particular motion is all about housing construction. If he comes to my electorate, he'll see the Greater Springfield area—the member for Oxley also represents Springfield; we share it—and I've got Ripley Valley. Houses are going up everywhere in these areas. The housing problems we've got in this country are not new, but the member for Caldwell must have been blind for a long time and mustn't be looking around anywhere. He must be the Russell Hinze of the LNP in Queensland, because he can't see houses anywhere.

It's very challenging, we know, for Australians to find the opportunity to get into a first home, and that's what we've got in an area like the Ripley Valley, where, of course, the average age is about 26.

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