Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Hansard source

We need homes for every Australian. We need a housing policy that creates environments where everyone can find their own way into the housing market and stay there. We need actual housing policy that's more than writing a few cheques or throwing around big numbers with dollar signs. Getting housing policy right means getting supply right, and that supply needs to be in balance with demand. We need a housing policy where there's follow-through so that developers and builders can actually deliver so that the aspiration of homeownership is achieved more and more for everyday Aussies.

Last week, Labor member after Labor member was rolled out to applaud the government's Home Guarantee Scheme of a five per cent deposit with the removal of lender's mortgage insurance for first home buyers. On the surface, that sounds great for first home buyers—well, for now, anyway. But it's a scam. It will end up a mess—a mess for our economy, a mess for current mortgage holders, a mess for the government books and eventually a mess for the first home buyers who purchase under this scheme. A five per cent deposit will probably end up being like 20 per cent today, because it's going to drive the market up. Again, lower deposit rates and creating greater buying power for first home buyers will not fix the problem. We need to fix the supply and demand imbalance first. We need to be building more and building quickly and efficiently. Time is critical.

What about someone trying to get back into the market after previously owning a home? The scheme targeted at first home owners works against these people. The demand that Labor is creating will only add fuel to the fire and make homes for these people even further out of reach, and they won't have access to the same conditions. I'm talking about the people who have lost everything. Perhaps their marriage broke down or perhaps they had no choice but to sell up because interest rates have skyrocketed under this government. How are they meant to get back into the housing market? Where is their hand up? As an example, to paint a picture, imagine a 50-something-year-old woman. She may have devoted her life to her children, taking time away from work to care for them, and now they're all grown up, but her marriage is over. She has little or no savings and nothing left to get back into another home, because—here is the kicker for these people—housing just got more expensive off the back of this announcement. More demand without supply means higher house prices and higher rents as well.

I'm supportive of fewer housing based taxes and feel the rules should apply to all Australians looking to buy a primary residence. What I'm not supportive of are policies that will only put more pressure on supply and put the taxpayer on the hook for loan defaults. Sadly, homelessness is on the rise. It is the worst in living memory. We, the coalition, care about those that are doing it tough. We care about people who have fallen on hard times, whether they find themselves without a roof over their heads for the first time or they have been sleeping rough for a long time. We genuinely care, unlike this government who are all about flashy headline announcements.

Orange Sky is a charity that provides free laundry and conversation for people who are experiencing homelessness or hardship, and it is one that I have championed and lobbied for. These services are free and used by many who are finding it tough and have limited options. At the last election, only a few months ago, I, backed by the coalition, championed for a $30,000 grant to assist Orange Sky to move into upgraded facilities in Mackay. The funds are insignificant in government coffer terms, but are very significant for the people in my electorate. I've written to the Prime Minister to highlight this funding requirement and have asked for bipartisan support. I look forward to the government's response in backing this funding.

When the coalition was last in office, there were around 200,000 houses being built per year—almost entirely through private investment, mind you—and we were contending with much lower immigration figures. Under Labor, the number of private builds has fallen to around 170,000 per year, and it is still falling, not growing. It is not even coming close to keeping pace with population growth. To adjust supply and demand in housing it's simple—balance the number of people coming into the country with the pace at which accommodation can be built. But we have a new housing minister, who was the previous home affairs minister, working alongside the immigration minister, who is no longer the immigration minister—they allowed the floodgates to open and in they came. What a mess! I suggest the minister's next move might be into climate change and energy, because that's a right mess too.

What we see under Labor are immigration numbers soaring and promises being broken while housing supply stalls. They're piling up on demand without fixing supply. Labor's Housing Australia Future Fund is one of the biggest failures in the country's history at $10 billion of taxpayer's money. For how many houses? Nobody actually knows. Senators Wong and Gallagher have said they've acquired 2,000 homes. The government has purchased 2,000 homes. That's not helping supply but fuelling even more demand. Worse still, this isn't even an investment fund; it's a Ponzi scheme. Honestly, we'd get better returns at the track betting on No. 7. The money has gone in, and the country has paid the interest—for what return? The houses we need are not being built, and the fund value is shrinking. The money, along with the pipedream of 1.2 million homes in five years, is just disappearing. What a joke—an absolute joke.

Let's not forget inflation. The year to July CPI figures, which came out just last week, hit 2.8 per cent—a sharp rise of one per cent over the last month and the steepest increase since last year. My concern is, if inflation is rising again—because, let's be honest, the government does not have the economy under control—then the rate cuts that we're all hoping for won't materialise. So, if you already have a mortgage, look out. With inflation demand on the rise, it won't be long before interest rates jump up again. Where will that leave those new first home buyers who have just bought with only a five per cent deposit? Those with their big bright dreams—gone. By the way, the Australian taxpayer will be on the hook for any defaults, and more debt means either cuts to services or the creation of new taxes—probably both at the rate this government is going.

I'm glad to see the government has finally decided to put a freeze on the National Construction Code until 2029—a coalition policy that Labor rubbished at the election only a few months ago. Master Builders has also been calling for a freeze to take the handbrake off approvals and delays. The government has finally listened, albeit they did so kicking and screaming. They've had to hear from the economic roundtable before giving it the green light. But we can't just freeze it. We need to cut the mountain of paperwork that has found its way into every build under this government. Labor is choking builders with paperwork and regulation instead of giving them the freedom to build. And now Labor want to be mortgage brokers too. It's reckless and will end up hurting everyday Australians.

What we need to see is the value of houses rising steadily, not rapidly, so one can buy. We also don't want to see a situation where property values fall. We need a strategy and a policy that ensure that the ratio of what someone owns and what they need to buy a home keeps advancing at the same rate. Under this government, the housing market's supply and demand are way out of whack. The government's solutions are only good for one thing—warm and fuzzy headlines. The construction of new homes needs policy that will encourage. We need to cut the red tape for all government, and they need to get out of the road. We need to create an environment where people can, once again, aspire to homeownership. We need to get the supply and demand right, get the houses built and get a home for all Australians. Labor are playing with fire, and, when the government play with fire, there's a real chance the house will get burnt to the ground and all Australians will get burnt.

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