Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wentworth for her question. It's a really good one, and I think it reflects the real seriousness with which she engages in the housing debate. For many of the wonderful people on the crossbench here, housing is a critical issue in their community, and they work collaboratively with our government, and the member for Wentworth is one of them.

The member for Wentworth asked about the situation facing Australian renters, and I agree with her. This is a really critical concern for our government. We've got a housing crisis in our country that's been cooking for 40 years, and the people who are bearing the biggest brunt of this are people in rental accommodation. They're feeling it in rents going up too fast and too frequently. They feel it in the lack of power they have in negotiating with their landlords, and a very distressing share of the nation's renters tell us they are actively fearing becoming practically homeless, and that should not be happening in a country like Australia.

One thing that the member for Wentworth has been constructive on, when working with the government, is understanding the crux of this issue facing our rental population—that is, for the 40-year period, our country hasn't been building enough homes. For a long time in Australia, the Commonwealth government washed its hands of this problem. For most of the time those opposite were in government they were so checked out of housing that they didn't even have a housing minister to negotiate with. We have changed that, and one of the main ways that we're engaging with states and territories is through something called the National Housing Accord.

Instead of saying that our government wouldn't take any responsibility, the Prime Minister has stepped up. He's sat down with state and territory leaders across the country, as well as with local government and the private sector, and said, 'If we want to make a change here, we need to make a difference to how our housing system works.'

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