Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister for housing, homelessness and cities. How is the Albanese Labor government making it easier for Australians to get into homeownership, and what are the obstacles?

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Blair for his question. He is such a big supporter of giving his community better opportunities for homeownership, and he tops the league table. Since our government was elected, 3,416 people in his local community have got into homeownership with the backing of the Albanese government, and I know that the member cannot wait to get back to his beautiful part of our country to tell potential first home buyers that even more support is on the way from the Albanese government.

Housing is very tough in Australia today. That's why our government has built a $43 billion agenda, with policies that are making a real difference to the lives of Australians. Just since we were elected, 180,000 people around our country have bought their first home with our five per cent deposit program. More than a million households have gotten a 45 per cent increase to Commonwealth rent assistance. Half a million homes have been built, new housing approvals are up 30 per cent, and we've got 28,000 social and affordable homes in planning or construction today. We know that the key to addressing Australia's housing crisis is to build, build, build. We've got to build more homes more quickly. That's why the majority of that $43 billion package is aimed at improving supply.

Alongside those measures our party has a strong view that we should be doing more to help first home buyers to get into the market now. Yesterday, our prime minister announced that from 1 October every single first home buyer around the country can get into the housing market with just a five per cent deposit. I know it's not just me. All of us speak to younger people in our community and hear about the fact that that 20 per cent deposit is the main barrier for the next generation getting access to homeownership. The expansion of this five per cent deposit scheme will change lives. This will mean tens of thousands of additional Australians who will get the security, stability and joy that owning your own home brings.

The PM and I both talked yesterday about our fantastic visit to Abbie, Lachie and Chilli. They spoke to us about this experience they have of spending their 20s paying off their own mortgage, not someone else's. Well, we're fighting to give more Australians that opportunity. They're just one of so many families that I meet whose lives have been changed by our policies. We want to expand the opportunity for homeownership to more young Australians. We can do it, and Labor believe that we should.

Speaker, we know that housing is a challenge for people right around the country. That's why you are seeing our government step up and tackle this crisis from every single angle. We are building more homes, we're helping renters get a better deal and we are bloody proud to be helping more Australians realise their dream of homeownership.

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

I just remind the minister not to use that language during her answers.