Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak to this motion moved by my dear friend the member for Fadden. I acknowledge also the member for Moncrieff, who is also in the chamber. The three of us represent constituencies of the Gold Coast, and we are no stranger to the issue of housing because we're seeing it right in our backyards. I'm pleased that the member for Moreton recognised the importance of housing. It's just really unfortunate that those opposite and the policies that they reflect do not reflect that fact.

The motion today before the House of Representatives touches on a number of different important things and, in particular, something that's become even more relevant over the last two weeks. That is the fact that the government has made Australia's housing crisis even worse. And they've done this by expanding the five per cent deposit scheme from what was a sensible and targeted approach to something that is uncapped and not means tested. So it's a free-for-all approach which has supercharged house prices by 3.6 per cent just in one quarter. Why is that amplified by everything else that this government is overseeing?

In the last week and a bit, we've seen an increase—yet another increase—to our interest rates in this country. That takes us to 14 rate rises under this Albanese Labor government. So all of those people who may have gotten into the housing market for the first time under this government's five per cent deposit scheme are now hit. They are absolutely hit with having to pay higher interest rates on those houses. We've also seen a government—and this motion goes to the fact—that has created the failing Housing Australia Future Fund. That has $11.4 billion in it, but—get this—it has only built 895 houses in 2½ years of operation.

Now, when I speak to people in my constituency on the southern Gold Coast—in fact, I was at the Burleigh Heads markets for about five to six hours on Saturday morning. We had a number of, especially, young people who are struggling with rentals because we've got a situation on the Gold Coast where the rental market is severely constricted. Then there are others who are young families who have just gotten into their first home. They're dealing with not only the cost of housing and not only these interest rate rises but the cost of housing and these interest rate rises on top of every single other increase in cost that we're facing under this government. And it all goes back to two main points: (1) a lack of ambition in relation to housing by this government and (2) that this is in relation to the fact that we've got a government that is addicted to spending. It's a combination of those two factors that have resulted in where we're at as a country right now.

I have recently been appointed, or elected, to the deputy chair role of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration. As the member for Fadden touched on, we had our first public hearing last Friday or the Friday before, and something came about which I think this House really needs to know.

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