Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The point that the housing minister was making is that our big investments in the budget on Tuesday night in housing supply were not the first time that we had come to the table with very substantial investments. An extra $2 billion in the budget means an extra 65,000 homes, because it invests in the small-scale infrastructure, the drains, the power infrastructure and the local road infrastructure to get more projects over the line. That's just the latest instalment in this government's enthusiastic investment in trying to make up the lost ground from the decade of those opposite doing almost nothing when it came to housing supply.

I'm asked about housing and I'm asked about progress that this government has made. Let me give you a few sets of numbers. Dwelling commencements are up 26 per cent; they were falling 28 per cent under those opposite. Dwelling building approvals are up 13 per cent; they were falling 21 per cent under those opposite. Dwelling investment is up 5.5 per cent; it was falling 3.6 per cent under those opposite. We know that there's more work to do to build more homes in local communities, and that's why there's extra investment in the budget.

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