Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me tell you a little bit about the community I represent in Melbourne's western suburbs, the place I call home. Gorton stretches from Mount Cottrell in the south-west all the way to Keilor in the northern corner. If you look at a map of the electorate today and a map of the electorate 20 years ago, you'll notice they look very different to one another. Suburbs like Fraser Rise, Truganina and Plumpton didn't exist not so long ago. They've popped up across our community, and these suburbs make up the western growth corridor, full of new housing developments. That's because we're one of the fastest growing electorates in the country, where young families are moving in to build homes and to plan for their futures.

Gorton is one of the youngest electorates in the country, too, with a median age of 35. We have more than 40,000 residents between the ages of 25 and 39. I speak to young people in my community every day. They're people who are at the stage of life when settling down and starting a family is front of mind. They're good people, full of ambition—hardworking Aussies who are building a future for themselves and for their families.

But the future they envision and the future they deserve has been out of reach for too long. Because of the neglect of the previous coalition governments, homeownership was not a dream everyone could aspire to. I've spoken to people in my community who told me they couldn't think of a world where renting wasn't their only option, and these young people are not alone in their anxieties about the future. Housing is a life-defining challenge for millions of Australians today. Too many young Australians are being locked out of the housing market. Too many young Australians feel that homeownership is out of reach. Too many young Australians feel that they have no choice but to confront a future they can't plan for. And that's not right.

This housing challenge has been a generation in the making. For decades, this problem has been shafted to the states. When the coalition were in government for almost a decade, they were negligent when it came to housing. This problem can't be tackled overnight. But, unlike previous coalition governments, we are addressing this issue. We're not leaving the issue of homeownership for an entire generation of Australians all up to the states to try and fix. We're taking a hand in it, and we've brought the federal government back to the table. That's why I'm proud to report the success of the Albanese Labor government's five per cent deposit scheme. We're already delivering and seeing real results right across the country, like for hardworking Aussies in my own community.

I stand here today to tell you that my electorate of Gorton, in Melbourne's western suburbs, has one of the highest uptakes of the five per cent deposit scheme in the country. Since we came to government, 3,119 people in my electorate have bought their first home with just a five per cent deposit. How good is that? That's over 3,000 people in my community who have gotten their foot into the housing market—their own property, a future they can plan for, a future they'll raise their family in. Make no mistake, this is fundamentally life-changing, and it matters massively in my community. We were able to deliver on this promise three months ahead of schedule, opening the door sooner to first home buyers. When it comes to home building, we've got an ambitious national target of 1.2 million new homes. To help Australia get there, we're cutting red tape, delivering new infrastructure and training more tradies across the country.

I know that, for more homes, we need better infrastructure—like better roads—and that's exactly why we've committed a billion dollars to upgrade the Western Freeway between Melton and Caroline Springs. And, in March last year, we announced $300 million for the Calder Park Drive Interchange on the Calder freeway, making things a lot safer for our community as we continue to grow.

Every day, I'm reminded of how privileged I am to live and work in Melbourne's western suburbs and to represent our wonderful community. I'm so proud that, thanks to Labor's five per cent deposit scheme, more people in our community and around the country can finally own their own homes. Homeownership is life-changing, and, for those over 3000 people in our community of Gorton, homeownership is no longer just a dream.

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