Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My year 6 and year 7 teacher, Mrs Wilson, in Kambalda, taught me the importance of making a positive difference. I recognise that people who run for federal parliament and are elected into this place do that because they believe in a better Australia—and that is exactly what our mighty Treasurer delivered last night, in last night's budget. This is a government that is not afraid of reform.

As we saw from the announcements yesterday, we are delivering the biggest commitment to housing this country has seen in a generation. For too long, the Australian dream of owning your own home had moved further out of reach, with global uncertainty, with conflict overseas, and, frankly, with housing tax arrangements to which the Albanese government has shown courage to create change during these uncertain times. Doing nothing was not an option. We are coming up with solutions to the housing challenge from every responsible angle. We are building more homes, we are making it better to rent and we are backing first home buyers. And, as announced last night, we are making the system fairer.

I'll start with housing supply. In my electorate of Swan alone, we are delivering 524 new social and affordable homes. Let me just put that in context. When the coalition was in government, they built, over their nine years, across the country, 373 homes. Federally, Labor has committed to 55,000 affordable and social homes. Of those that are being built in my electorate, 487 came from the Housing Australia Future Fund—a fund that the coalition voted against. Despite the coalition's best efforts to stop homes being built, this fund is now delivering for so many Australians. On Friday this week, I will get to turn sod on 50 new units in Victoria Park. Ten of those units will be reserved for older women over the age of 60 who are at risk of homelessness, and this is the fastest-growing group of homeless in Australia. This Housing Australia Future Fund is delivering, on the ground in my electorate, real homes for real people who need them most.

But we know we need more. That's why the Albanese Labor government is investing $2 billion in a new local infrastructure fund. That's $2 billion to build the water, the power, the sewerage and the roads; that will unlock 65,000 more homes across the country, with $500 million of that reserved for regional Australia, because, let's be honest, you can't build a home without connection to electricity and water. This government is making sure that our policy is backed by the funding needed to deliver the homes.

Today I've seen news outlets rage over our tax reform changes. Now, let me be clear. We are a government that listens. We're also a government that acts.

On the weekend, or maybe two weekends ago, there was a straw poll in my community in one of my local councils in the City of South Perth. They said that housing affordability was the No. 1 issue. This is also one of the most affluent parts of my electorate. They want to make sure that we fix housing for this generation and the next.

We are a government that wants to see Australians get into their first home. We're doing this by making the tax system fairer for the next generation of homebuyers. For too long, too many Australians have been locked out of the housing market. Too many young people are working hard and doing everything right, and they still cannot see a path to homeownership. Too many families want nothing more than to get their foot in the door of their own home.

Some will say that these changes don't go far enough. Some will say that they will go too far. But the test is not what the commentary says. Rather, it is whether the system was fairer than what it was. And, under this government, it is. More Australians deserve the chance to own their own homes, and this is what this government is determined to deliver. This is what a serious housing plan looks like. This is what intergenerational fairness looks like. This is what a Labor government looks like.

See this speech in context