Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How is the Social Services portfolio contributing to help more Australians secure a home, and what is standing in the way?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Canberra for her question. Of course, the Albanese government is turning the tide of 10 years of inaction by those sitting opposite and has begun to deliver our comprehensive housing agenda for Australians. We understand that people are doing it tough, particularly those renting. That's why, in last month's budget, the government invested an extra $2.7 billion to increase Commonwealth rent assistance maximum rates by 15 per cent. This is the largest increase to rent assistance in more than 30 years, and more than one million households will benefit, including pensioners, families, veterans, jobseekers and students.

Also in my portfolio we are building more emergency accommodation for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence. Since we formed government, I have taken steps to ensure the successful delivery of a number of Safe Places projects delivering much-needed crisis accommodation on the ground for women and children escaping family and domestic violence. And we will invest a further $100 million for the Safe Places program, to deliver up to 720 more places nationally for women.

On the weekend, the Prime Minister, along with the Minister for Housing, announced a $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, and through our Housing Australia Future Fund we have a plan to deliver more than 30,000 new social and affordable homes for Australians who need a safe and affordable place to call home, including 4,000 of those homes for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence and older women who are experiencing homelessness.

This is a very comprehensive plan, and it was disappointing to see the coalition team up with the Greens to block the delivery of homes on the ground. It seems that the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens would rather play political games than vote to deliver more social and affordable housing to Australians that need it, because voting to delay the Housing Australia Future Fund is standing in the way of delivering more housing stock for Australians who want a safe and affordable place to call home. I need to reinforce that it is only Labor that has a plan to boost Commonwealth rent assistance, to deliver emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence and to build more social and affordable housing.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Petrie is warned!

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is time for all of those parties opposing this to either get on board or get out of the way, because Australians need housing now, and they voted for a government to deliver.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Petrie is warned.

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Millions of renters are in crisis and many are one rent increase away from eviction. The Greens have asked you for months to make an immediate investment from the budget in public housing and work with the states and territories to impose national limits on rent increases, and until this weekend you have refused. Now that you have caved in and put $2 billion on the table to get the Labor premiers to shift on housing, will you now show the same leadership and work with national cabinet to make unlimited rent increases illegal?

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The leader of the Greens will resume his seat. I will take action on this. I could not hear a word the member for Griffith was saying. His question will be heard in silence, like everyone else's. Whoever is laughing—that's the Minister for Resources. She can cease interjecting as well, or be warned. I want to be clear: the rules apply equally to everyone in this House. The member for Griffith will ask his question in silence. If anyone interjects, they will leave the chamber immediately. I give the call to the member for Griffith.

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If only they showed as much passion for renters. Millions of renters—

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Resume your seat. The member for Griffith was shown the respect of the House. He will show the respect to the House as well. He will ask his question and begin it now.

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Millions of renters are in crisis and many are one rent increase away from eviction. The Greens have asked you for months to make immediate investment from the budget in public housing and work with the states and territories to impose national limits on rent increases, and until this weekend you have refused. Now that you have caved in and put $2 billion on the table to get the Labor premiers to shift on housing, will you now show leadership and work with national cabinet to make unlimited rent increases illegal?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. It's a pity that the Greens political party have chosen to make themselves irrelevant to the debate. By refusing to participate—just like the coalition do—on these issues, they can take no responsibility for anything that this government does. We will not be held back by a 'no-alition' of the Liberal Party and the Greens political party saying 'no' to public housing.

What we have done is work with states and territories on the issue of housing supply because, yes, I understand that renters are doing it tough. Yes, I want to do things about that. Yes, that's why we have a renters' rights agreement we're working through with states and territories. What we are not doing is destroying supply while we do it, because the key to fixing housing is supply. If we did what those opposite want us to do, there will be less supply of housing going forward, and that is what they don't seem to comprehend. The fact is that those opposite have prioritised protesting, they have prioritised building up a profile, and they have prioritised politics rather than prioritising building public housing, which is why they voted in the Senate to block the bill by deferring it. At least those opposite in the Liberal Party don't pretend. They would have the guts to vote against public housing.

I say to the Greens, for deferring this legislation yet again: they should have had the guts, as I said to the leader of the Greens this morning, to vote against it, to say that you're against 30,000 additional social housing units, including housing for women and children escaping domestic violence, including housing for veterans, and including housing for those in Indigenous communities. There are a range of things open to the government to do, policy-wise. We don't need a Senate which has decided to block everything. We will take up those options. We certainly did on Saturday in announcing $2 billion of public housing going forward. In return for that, the states and territories have agreed on planning reform. They want new zoning. And I say the challenge is that those opposite oppose every new zoning, because they have never seen a medium-density development that they supported. In my area of the Inner West Council, they voted against every affordable housing development that has occurred. So don't come in here and say you care about public housing, just vote— (Time expired)

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the Prime Minister and all members, the term 'no-alition' is unparliamentary. Order! There are a lot of 'no-alitions' going on.