Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering for first home buyers, and are there any risks to delivery?

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

A wonderful question from the member for Leichhardt. He is such a tireless advocate for housing in his community. We're doing some really amazing things in his local area on housing. We're building more homes. There are 11,000 renters in his community who have got that 50 per cent increase to Commonwealth rent assistance. And I know that the local member will be particularly proud, because our government has already helped 1,106 of his constituents buy their first home through our 5 per cent deposit program.

For four decades, our country has not been building enough homes. This failure has left us with a housing crisis that's been cooking for a generation. We know that the solution here is pretty straightforward. We've got to build, build, build. That's why the bulk of our ambitious $43 billion housing agenda is focused on boosting supply. This agenda is of course already delivering for the country. We've had about half a million homes been built around our nation since we came to office. On the last stats that came out from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, we saw that housing starts are up 17 per cent on where they were a year ago. We've seen construction costs stabilise—from their historic increase that was occurring when those opposite left office—and we have got now 25,000 social and affordable homes in planning or construction, with more than 5,000 completed.

These are important moves to help us tackle the housing crisis from every angle. But our government also fiercely believes that the young people of this country need help with housing, and they need help right now. That is why our government is making it easier for Australians to buy, through our expanded 5 per cent deposit program—no income caps, no caps on places and increased property price caps that better reflect where we know that Australians want to live.

As you've heard me say before, our government is all about delivery, delivery, delivery. That is why we are bringing forward this announcement, because we want to get that help to Australians earlier than we were originally planning. We're bringing this forward to 1 October. Mark that date in your diary, any people in the gallery and want to get that amazing Australian dream of homeownership realised. Now, 180,000 people have already benefited from this scheme right around the country. I want to say my hello to Matt and Maddy, who are in the member for Leichhardt's electorate. I sat down with them just after they'd bought their first home with our 5 per cent deposit program, and they told me an amazing story. This beautiful couple had a young child and another baby on the way. Would you believe that these Australians weren't able to get housing stability, bouncing from family member to family member? That's when our government was able to step in and help them get into a home of their own. That family now owns a home in the member for Leichhardt's electorate. We want to see more Australians get that opportunity, and we're really pleased to be rolling out this program on 1 October.