Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It's great to be able to rise again today to speak about the Albanese Labor government's support for regional Australia—the best part of the country. This is a budget that has placed housing front and centre. Housing supply, affordability and enabling infrastructure in our regions are key to ensuring kids in the bush get to get their own home and raise a family in the town that they love. We have a $47 billion Homes for Australia plan to build more homes, to help first home buyers and to support renters. Regional Australians are a priority across our major housing initiatives. Programs such as our five per cent deposit scheme have already helped 83,000 people buy their own home in our regions. Now, our expanded five per cent deposit scheme and Help to Buy scheme are helping more regional Australians to own their own home.

Through the Housing Australia Future Fund, we're supporting the development of more than 2,900 social and affordable homes in regional and remote areas, with more to come in round 3. Initiatives like $12.4 million for the Cooma housing project in my own electorate will turn 12.6 hectares of unused land into new community, with 140 new residential lots with a mix of social, affordable and private housing options tailored to the local community and the $2 billion social housing accelerator payment to deliver almost 1,400 social homes in regional Australia.

We know that, in order to build new homes, we need the enabling infrastructure to get them done—the power, the roads and the drainage. Last term, we created the Housing Support Program with $1.5 billion, and we've heard from local government the need for more enabling infrastructure, which is why, in this budget, we've committed another $2 billion, with $500 million directed to regional Australia. The government has already invested over $6.3 billion in housing enabling infrastructure.

Opposition members interjecting—

I hear them complaining, but that is 50 times more than those opposite did when they were in government. Our $47 billion investment in housing is 10 times what the coalition invested when they were in last. I guess we ask where their regional infrastructure funding went? It went to the North Sydney regional pool, $11 a pop. There's a gelato bar if you want to go and help yourself next time you're in Sydney visiting regional communities. We want to make it easier for first home buyers to get in their home. We're putting our money where our mouth is, unlike those opposite who, for nine years, gave the regions nothing. (Time expired)

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