Ali France (Dickson, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Housing. How are the Albanese Labor government's housing tax reforms helping Australians? What approaches would make it more difficult for Australians to get a roof over their heads?

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

I thank the member for Dickson for this question. Not only is this woman a remarkable Australian but she is one of the strongest voices in this parliament for housing policy, and I want to thank her for her leadership.

Our housing tax reforms have two really clear goals. The first is to give first home buyers a better shot at getting the keys to their own home, and we want to encourage more investment in building the homes Australia needs.

It's early days since the budget, but we are seeing some really encouraging signs in what is coming out of the sector. The latest ABS data shows that lending to investors buying new dwellings is up more than 27 per cent on last year. What remarkable growth. At the same time, we are seeing investor lending for construction rise 4.4 per cent. It is now 20 per cent higher than it was a year ago.

That same data shows us that investor lending to buy existing homes fell almost 15 per cent in the June quarter, and data from our five per cent deposit program shows us that we have got first home buyers around this country going to auctions, and they are winning.

These are the exact directions that we want to see from the housing market. We want to see less investor money chasing up the house prices of homes that we already have. We want to see more investment helping build the homes our country needs, and we want to see those scales tipped right back in favour of first home buyers.

We are seeing support for these measures from some, frankly, quite surprising quarters. I want to share with you a quote from Commonwealth Bank CEO, Matt Comyn, who has said:

Investing or supporting businesses so they can invest, grow and employ people is going to deliver a better overall outcome for the country than buying and selling housing to each other.

We had the National Australia Bank's chief economist, Sally Auld, say, on 7.30:

… over the long run, it's … owner-occupiers who are the winners in all of this, in the sense that we're going to redistribute … the ownership of housing away from investors and more towards owner-occupiers.

We have even got leaders in our banking sector who can see that these changes are in the national interest. Why can't the coalition and One Nation see the same?

When we look at the facts, we have got home ownership rates for young people around this country falling through the floor; 81 per cent of millennials and gen Z tell us that they are delaying major life decisions—delaying getting married and delaying having a child—because they are concerned about housing insecurity. Yet still, those opposite spend their time in this parliament defending a broken housing system.

Well, I say, very directly to Australians: we hear you, we see the pain that you are in, and we will keep delivering you the real change you need to get into a home of your own.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Housing. It's reported that approximately 51,000 non-citizens, one-fifth of the overall applicants, have accessed the five per cent first home buyers deposit scheme, many of whom may own overseas properties. Rightly, the government does not allow HECS debt to be accrued by permanent residents, as they're not Australian citizens, so why does the government expose Australian citizens to the risk of loan default from non-Australians accessing the five per cent deposit scheme?

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

I thank the member for her question. We've been through this before in the parliament. There is tightly controlled eligibility for this scheme. Temporary residents are not eligible for the scheme, despite what's been inferred and said by the Leader of the Opposition.

The only people who are eligible for this scheme are citizens of our country and permanent residents. Permanent residents are very likely to have lived in our country for a long time. The hint is in the word 'permanent'. These are people who are working as doctors and nurses. They are aged-care workers who are caring for our elderly. They are carers who are working in the disability and other sectors. They are permanent residents across our country, and they are helping our country grow.

Now, I'm hearing a lot of interjection from the Leader of the Opposition. I want to remind him again that the words that he utters in this parliament are not just heard by the people he thinks—

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

Order!

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

I'm responding to an interjection, Speaker.

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

I can handle it, Minister, thank you. The manager is entitled to raise his point of order, so I'll hear his point of order.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) | Link to this | Hansard source

Out of respect for the member who asked this question, it didn't have anything to do with the opposition, and I think the minister should be brought back to the question itself.

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

I'm just reading the question. There was no analysis of opposition policy, so I'm just going to get the minister to come back to the five per cent deposit scheme, but I'm going to make sure that, if she is doing any policy relating to the topic or any comparing and contrasting, she's relevant to the question she was asked. The Leader of the House?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

Just in terms of the compare and contrast issue, there's a series of different points throughout that question. I'm just looking at it now. It's not even limited to one policy area; it contains other comparisons. So the capacity to be able to compare and contrast is broader in that than it would otherwise—

An opposition member interjecting

Take the call if you want to chat.

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

Okay, we'll get through this. The Manager of Opposition Business?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister was referencing specifically the Leader of the Opposition. Now, there was nothing in there about the Leader of the Opposition, in that—

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

We'll be able to sort this out. I'll hear from the Prime Minister.

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

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The minister was referring to the policy issue which related directly to the question that was asked. The question that was asked went to eligibility for the five per cent deposits. It is perfectly relevant for the minister—and, indeed, in order to give an answer to that question, it is necessary for the minister—to point out who is eligible for this scheme. And the fact is—

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! The manager was heard in silence. I gave the courtesy to the manager. I'll ask the same courtesy be applied to the Prime Minister.

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

The fact is that that is why the minister needs to go through the way the scheme operates and why the explanation of its eligibility is critical.

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! It will help with things if the Leader of the Opposition ceases interjecting so the minister doesn't respond to interjections as well. Everyone is correct in this argument. I want to make sure, as I said, that if there's compare and contrast, it's related to this policy. That's my point and that's my ruling.

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

In regard to the compare and contrast in relation to this policy, I want the parliament to know that, actually, since we last met, the Leader of the Opposition was busted making a false claim about the eligibility of this policy, and I want to quote to you what he said. He said: 'Labor has made the five per cent deposit program available to anyone the day they arrive.'

Honourable members interjecting—

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

The minister will just pause for a second. Just take your seat for a moment. I am not happy with the level of interjections during this question time today. There is far, far too much ongoing interjection—the member for Lyne is continuously interjecting; I'll have to put you on a warning, Member for Lyne—and that goes for both sides. I don't like issuing a general warning, but I'm getting close to doing it for everyone inside this House today. Please, I am asking everyone to listen to the minister, to show respect, and to show respect for the person asking the question as well. It's not good enough, and I'm asking everyone now to do better.

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

I was just reporting to the parliament that, in the sitting break, the Leader of the Opposition was busted saying behind closed doors: 'Labor has made the five per cent deposit program available to anyone the day they arrive in the country.' I want to call that out because it just speaks to the disgraceful reflex for division that those opposite bring forward to all of the problems facing our country. It wasn't just that. The Leader of the Opposition actually said publicly when he announced that he wanted to withdraw support for permanent residents, 'when you commit to this country we'll commit to you'. And I want our loved Chinese Australian community and I want our loved Indian Australian community to know that we see your commitment to our country. We respect it, and we value it.

This is a program our government is incredibly proud of. 260,000 people have the keys to their own home today because of this fantastic support that we are offering them. Not only are those opposite focused on division, but they do not have a single sensible thing to say about housing, the most important issue facing our country. We're not going to be distracted by their obsession with conflict. We've got housing issues facing our country, and that's why we're stepping up and making real change to Australia's housing system.