Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Liberal-National government are prepared to put billions of dollars into property speculation. But we heard on the weekend in a story given to The Australian that they are going to cut the National Affordable Housing Agreement—the agreement that helps homeless people find a home, that helps provide affordable rental accommodation and public housing.

This is a further indication of a government that is completely out of touch when it comes to the housing needs of ordinary Australians. We have a Prime Minister who told Jon Faine that what Australians should do is get rich parents, that parents should be helping their kids into the housing market. This is a confirmation of something: that this government has given up on the notion that an ordinary person with an ordinary job should be able to afford an ordinary home. In fact, they are saying that you need intergenerational wealth to get into the housing market in this country.

We have a Deputy Prime Minister who says that with housing affordability the only problem is that everybody wants a harbour view. I can tell you, Mr Speaker, that is not the case. People want a modest roof over their heads, and they cannot afford that today.

We have the former Treasurer, Mr Hockey, who said that Australians should just get a good job that pays good money. Well, if only I had thought of that! What a policy insight that one was! And the current Minister for Urban Infrastructure said, when he was asked about Sydney housing affordability:

I suspect the people of Sydney have a lot more things that they're thinking about on a daily basis than that.

Well, that is certainly not true for the millions of young Australians and their parents who fear that they will be locked out of the housing market for ever. It is certainly not true of the people who are struggling along in the rental market in the insecurity of knowing that their landlord might decide at the very last minute that the fact that they have been a very good tenant does not matter, that they want to turn the property over. And it certainly is not the case for the thousands of Australians who are homeless every night—in fact, an increasing number of Australians who are homeless every night.

This government has cut homelessness funding—$44 million a year for new build alone has been cut. They have scrapped the National Rental Affordability Scheme, which delivered almost 40,000 new affordable rental dwellings before those opposite killed it. They have defunded housing and homelessness organisations because they are frightened of what those organisations say and do, standing up for ordinary Australians who believe, as we all do on this side, that people deserve a roof over their heads. There is no minister for housing, which is an insight into the importance that this government puts on housing policy and, as I said, they are now proposing that they will get rid of the National Affordable Housing Agreement.

On the National Affordable Housing Agreement: they have dumped this story to The Australian coming out of the Report on government services saying, 'Well, there's been no real increase in social housing out of this.' That is actually not true. If you look at chapter 18 of this report, it in fact shows that there has been a 16½ thousand—16,533—increase in the number of dwellings in public and community housing: 'social housing', as we call it. It talks about how the big increase has been in social housing which, in fact, is something that Labor supports. We believe that community housing is a very appropriate vehicle for providing affordable rental accommodation to needy Australians.

I also found this terrifically ironic: a promise to reduce homelessness by seven per cent had also not been met, with the homelessness rate instead rising to 17 per cent. That is tragic! That is a national shame, and it is a national shame caused by those opposite because they have cut all of the new building funding—$44 million a year—that was set aside by Labor in the National Homelessness Partnership to build new houses for homeless Australians. They cut that in their first budget and then they went, 'Oh, I wonder why homelessness is going up?' Who would have thought?

They have cut funding for homelessness services. Who would have thought that that would increase homelessness in this country! Those opposite should hang their heads in shame. Labor had a target to reduce homelessness; they gave up on that target! They simply do not even pretend that we want to reduce homelessness in this country. They have no housing minister and no housing policies and then they turn around and say, 'Oh, we've got a real problem with homelessness. We're going to get rid of all that other government funding that will help reduce this problem.'

This is a government that has presided over unaffordable housing to buy, unaffordable housing to rent and fewer homes for homeless Australians. (Time expired)