Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to put on the record the fine work of the ALP Family Watch Task Force, which has been travelling round the country. I make particular reference to the chair, Catherine King. We have been travelling round the country talking to people, listening to people and, importantly, engaging with families to better understand some of the issues, problems and pressures they are facing. There is a whole range of issues: childcare access as well as childcare cost, the rising price of petrol and the impact that is having on family budgets, the cost of living and all the issues associated with that, and the price of groceries and utilities—how life is becoming more difficult for ordinary families. But out of all those issues there was another issue that really stood out as one that is putting a great deal of pressure on families, and that is the cost of housing. This is the case whether they own a home, are paying one off, are in the rental market or, even more importantly, are trying to buy their first home. It is now more expensive and more difficult for a young person to buy a home than it has ever been, probably, in Australian history.

I want to note that the Prime Minister has actually broken his word—broken his promise—in terms of interest rates, claiming that under him interest rates would not go up. Well, they have gone up quite a number of times. The government is also—

Fran Bailey (McEwen, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That’s not what he promised, you know that.

Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And you will notice, Mr Speaker, that they get very touchy about this, because they know they are responsible for what is happening to the price of housing, to the costs of interest rates repayments on mortgages— (Time expired)