I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that for too long, too many Australians have felt that the housing system is stacked against them and that home ownership has been out of reach;

(2) acknowledges the Government's commitment to help get more Australians into home ownership by:

(a) making the expanded five per cent deposit scheme available to all Australian first home buyers;

(b) opening the Help to Buy shared equity scheme, helping more low- and middle-income Australians into a home of their own; and

(c) levelling the playing field for first home buyers while ensuring that investment flows to where it is most productive, including new housing supply; and

(3) further acknowledges the Government's $47 billion housing agenda, which is focused on building more homes.

I'm moving this motion today because, for generations, owning your own home has been an Australian dream. It provides independence, it provides security, and it gives families an opportunity to raise their children, to put down roots and to build a better future. But, for far too long and for too many Australians, particularly young Australians, that dream has really felt increasingly out of reach. Housing prices have risen. Rents have gone up. Even for people who work hard and save every week, getting together that deposit while paying bills is very, very difficult. That's why this Labor government has made housing a priority, and our approach is pretty straightforward. We need to help Australians overcome the barriers to buying their own home while at the same time building more homes.

One of the most significant changes that we've introduced has been the expansion of the five per cent deposit scheme. First home buyers have been able to access the scheme with a deposit of as little as five per cent without paying costly lenders insurance. Importantly, there are no income caps, there are no limits on the number and property price caps have increased to better reflect the housing market. Of the 270,000 Australians who have now accessed the scheme, 32,000 are in Brisbane alone. That's 32,000 people who are paying their own mortgage and not somebody else's.

We also recognise and understand that, even with the five per cent deposit, a mortgage can still remain out of reach for some, and that's why we've introduced Help to Buy. Help to Buy is a shared-equity approach designed specifically for low- and middle-income earners. Under that scheme, eligible purchasers can enter with a deposit as low as two per cent, while the Commonwealth can contribute up to 40 per cent for a new home and 30 per cent for an existing home. That means smaller deposits, and it can dramatically reduce the size of a mortgage a household needs. It also means lower repayments, and, importantly, it means people who have spent many years believing homeownership was impossible now have a genuine pathway forward.

These initiatives matter, because homeownership shouldn't be reserved for people whose parents can help them out. It shouldn't be reserved for those who are lucky enough to receive some form of inheritance. A nurse, a teacher, a childcare worker, a retail worker or a young couple starting their career should have a genuine opportunity to own their own home, too.

But helping people finance a home is only one side of the equation. We also have to build more homes, and the Labor government is throwing everything at this. We're delivering 55,000 social and affordable rental homes, and we're building 100,000 homes purely for first home buyers, with 20,000 of those in Queensland alone. To unlock these homes, we're training more tradies, funding more infrastructure and cutting red tape, including pausing the National Construction Code and fast-tracking environmental approvals. We're investing a further $2 billion in enabling infrastructure to unlock 65,000 homes.

Ultimately, Australia's housing challenge cannot be solved by one program. We need supply, we need affordable housing and we need pathways from renting to homeownership. And behind all of this are real people. It's young people like Jack, in my electorate, who is putting money aside every week, hoping that he'll be able to get a deposit. It's Frank and his partner, wondering whether they'll ever be able to own a home of their own. It's the single parent who wants stability for their children. It's the essential worker who serves the community and really needs to live near where they work. For those Australians, housing policy isn't an abstract political argument. It's about their future.

Labor believes governments have a role in helping make that future possible. We can increase the supply of homes, we can help people get through the door sooner, we can remove unnecessary barriers and we can make homeownership something that ordinary Australians can aspire to. Because the Australian dream of owning your own home should not become a relic of the past; it should remain a realistic ambition today and for the next generation, as well. Through initiatives that reduce deposit barriers, share the cost of purchasing a first home and invest in building more housing, the Albanese government is working to keep that dream alive. The Albanese government is there to support first home buyers and families and to help give them the security, the independence and the opportunity to raise their family in the community where they work and where they want to live.

Is the motion seconded?

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

I thank the member for Brisbane for moving this motion. The people of Kooyong understand that we need more housing, that young people deserve the opportunity to live in the communities where they grew up and that essential workers should be able to live close to where they work. They understand the need for well-designed housing close to jobs, transport and services. What residents don't understand is why we're expected to accept sweeping planning reforms passed by state government edict without any evidence that those reforms will deliver the affordable housing that we've been promised.

Across Melbourne's inner east, communities are being told that activity centres, planning changes and fast-tracked developments are necessary to improve housing affordability. But we're not seeing affordable housing. What we're seeing instead are proposals for high-end apartment developments targeted primarily at affluent buyers and downsizers. Housing for downsizers is important, but luxury apartments alone can't and won't solve the housing challenges facing essential workers, low-income households, young families and those at risk of homelessness. I have consistently supported thoughtful housing growth in well-located areas and housing policy to ensure that nurses, paramedics, teachers, aged-care workers and the other people who keep our communities functioning can afford to live close to where they work.

The former VicRoads site on Denmark Street in Kew is a perfect opportunity to put that principle into practice. It's surplus public land close to transport shops, schools and services. The Victorian government said that it could deliver as many as 500 homes, including affordable housing, and I've repeatedly welcomed that. But, years after VicRoads was closed, our community is still waiting for certainty about what will ultimately be built, who will build it and when those homes will be delivered. If federal and state governments are serious about affordability, public sites like this could lead the way. We need to move beyond announcements and turn well-located public land into homes that people can afford and want to live in.

Residents repeatedly tell me that they support more social and affordable housing. What concerns them is that many of the government's reforms lack enforceable mechanisms to ensure that that sort of housing is actually delivered. In high-value areas like Kooyong, affordable housing will not emerge simply because more land is rezoned. It requires clear targets, strong incentives and direct government investment. Theoretically, the state government's Development Facilitation Program requires at least 10 per cent of dwellings to be affordable housing. The reality is that that is easily circumvented by payment of a cash contribution equal to three per cent of the development cost into the Social Housing Growth Fund. There is no requirement that the fund money be spent in the municipality where the development sits, so we have no guarantees of affordable housing in Boroondara.

Many residents feel that they're being deprived of fair opportunities to participate in planning decisions. They have voiced concerns about inadequate consultation, reduced transparency and the diminishing role of local government. In Kooyong, both Boroondara and Stonnington councils have mature, sensitive and ambitious housing strategies. These have been largely ignored by the state government. I recently met with residents of Wattle Road in Hawthorn, where two major apartment blocks are proposed. The concern of residents was not that housing should not be built; their concern is that the developments will likely be high-end apartments with no guarantee of social or affordable housing and with insufficient consideration of the potential impact on local amenity and infrastructure.

We can build more homes while engaging meaningfully with communities. We can increase density while ensuring that roads, schools, public transport and open spaces keep pace. We can support housing growth with genuine contributions to affordable and social housing. The people of Kooyong do support responsible housing growth. They want a planning system which is transparent, evidence based and genuinely focused on affordability. Our housing policies should ultimately be judged not by how many planning controls are removed, how many developments are approved or how much red tape is circumvented, but by whether all Australians can afford a secure place to call home. That's the test that counts.

For generations, homeownership was the cornerstone of the great Australian dream. It meant stability, security and the chance to build a future for your family. But over the last 10 years, that dream has got dramatically harder to achieve for young Australians, families and those who have gone through a divorce. Since 2020, the cost of homes across South-East Queensland has more than doubled in six years. Brisbane's median house price in May was $1.2 million, well beyond what the average first home buyer could ever afford. For gen Xers like me, who bought their first home 20 years ago, 'we're okay Jack'. But for those who've been desperately saving over the last few years, it's like watching sand through the hourglass.

That's why we are tackling housing from every angle. Our $47 billion housing investment is focused on three priorities: building new homes, building more social and affordable homes, and backing first home buyers. We know we are playing catch-up on housing. When we came to government in 2022, we inherited 10 years of total neglect from the coalition on housing. Those opposite had no national housing strategy or plan for supply, affordability or homelessness. There was not even a Minister for Housing and almost no investment in social and affordable homes. In nine years, they built just 373 social and affordable homes.

We are now investing more on housing and building more homes than any government since the postwar period. We're seeing that pay off in real time in Queensland. Over 32,000 Brisbane locals have become brand new first home owners, with Labor's five per cent deposit scheme. Labor's Help to Buy scheme has helped 927 people on lower and moderate incomes into homeownership in the greater Brisbane area, including in my home area of Moreton Bay.

The Labor government is also making it better to rent. Over 170,000 households in my electorate and the greater Brisbane area are supported by our Commonwealth Rent Assistance program. Since we came to government, we've increased the maximum rate of rent assistance by over 50 per cent. We've invested $300 million in new housing infrastructure across Queensland. That's the roads, the plumbing and the wiring to enable developers to construct new homes in new estates.

We know supply has contributed to rental increases and pushed up the cost of buying a home. Young Aussies have felt for a long time that the housing market is rigged against them. Young people have been working hard, hustling, studying, saving, staying at home longer and sacrificing to save a deposit only to watch homeownership pass them by. Even if they have saved enough for a deposit, they have been pipped at the finishing line by investors, many of whom owning more than three investment properties.

Labor recognised the need for change to level the playing field for first home buyers. That's why we made changes to a tax system that benefitted investors over those who wanted a home to live in. Our changes to negative gearing mean first home buyers are no longer competing with investors, and investors are now incentivised to buy new builds to add to the national housing stock. Already, we are seeing the impact of these changes. We're seeing first home buyers going to auctions and bidding against other first home buyers, not investors. We're seeing an increased share of house sales going to first home buyers rather than investors. Hopefully, first home buyers aren't getting outbid at auctions month after month by investors with a property portfolio. Instead, first home buyers are finally going to auctions on a level playing field with a fair chance of getting a home of their own.

The housing challenges we face today were decades in the making. They will not be solved overnight, but, for the first time in a long time, Australia has a government with a serious plan, a clear vision and the determination to tackle the problem from every angle.

This plan is just destroying the housing market. The great Australian dream of homeownership is becoming a nightmare under this socialist Labor government. 'How are we ever going to get a home?' That is the question young Australians are asking. After four years of this Albanese Labor government, it is becoming harder and harder and harder to answer. The government promised an ambitious 1.2 million homes over five years. That was their promise. But where are they? Australia is currently completing around 173,000 homes a year, compared with approximately 240,000 homes needed to stay on track. At this rate, Labor is heading towards a shortfall of around 335,000 homes against its own target. That isn't an ambitious housing program. That is a government falling further and further behind.

While the government misses its housing target, Australians are paying the price. Mortgage affordability has reached an all-time low, with mortgage repayments consuming the highest share of household incomes since 1989. Mortgage interest alone is now swallowing around 7.8 per cent of household disposable income, compared with just 2.9 per cent when Labor came to office. For young Australians trying to buy their first home, the dream is slipping further away, and now we are seeing another deeply concerning consequence. Reports last week indicated that the number of first home buyers in negative equity after purchasing under the expanded five per cent home deposit scheme has increased fivefold in just one month.

The government cannot simply make it easier to borrow money and pretend that it solves the housing crisis. There aren't enough homes being built. Helping Australians take on more debt does not fix the fundamental problem. It risks putting more people into a mortgage without addressing the underlying shortage of housing. When Australia needs more homes, builders are going broke. Almost 13,000 construction businesses have become insolvent since Labor came to office. That's an average of around 60 businesses every week. These aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet. These are Australian businesses. These are tradespeople, apprentices, subcontractors and families whose livelihoods depend on a healthy construction industry.

And then there are Labor's own tax policies. The government's own modelling admits its budget tax hikes will result in around 35,000 fewer homes being built over the next decade. Last week, we learnt that the government's property tax changes could stunt housing construction and wipe $1 billion from Australia's GDP over the next four years. Think about that. At a time when Australia desperately needs more homes, Labor is introducing policies that make it harder to build them, and weaker economic growth is the result. You cannot tax your way out of a housing shortage. You cannot spin your way out of a housing shortage. You certainly cannot pretend the problem is solved by helping Australians borrow more to compete for too few homes. Young Australians are watching homeownership move further and further out of reach.

So what is the alternative? The coalition's plan is about tackling the supply problem at its source. We will cap migration to housing completions so population growth does not continue to run ahead of the homes Australians can actually build. We will invest $5 billion in housing infrastructure to unlock 400,000 homes. We will cut unnecessary construction red tape with the potential to reduce the cost of a new home by up to $70,000. And we will axe Labor's housing taxes that make it harder and more expensive to build. A young couple should be able to work hard, save a deposit and have a reasonable expectation that they can buy a home. That is the Australia we should be building.

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.