Barbara Pocock's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2026-02-05T22:06:04+00:00
items: Corporations and Financial Services Joint Committee; Government Response to Report | Committees | Senate debates
items: Housing; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
items: Economy | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
items: Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee; Reference | Committees | Senate debates
items: Taxation | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
items: Tibet | Adjournment | Senate debates
items: Housing | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
items: Bondi Beach: Attack | Condolences | Senate debates
items: g202.1
items: Environment, Rising Tide: Protests | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
items: Government Response to Report; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
items: Economics References Committee; Reference | Committees | Senate debates
items: Adelaide: Built Environment | Adjournment | Senate debates
items: Domestic and Family Violence | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
items: Housing Australia; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
items: Housing | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
items: Selection of Bills Committee; Report | Committees | Senate debates

Corporations and Financial Services Joint Committee; Government Response to Report | Committees | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move: That the Senate takes note of the document. I will also be referring to the government response on the final report of the Finance and Public Administration References Committee's Inquiry...
encoded: I move: That the Senate takes note of the document. I will also be referring to the government response on the final report of the Finance and Public Administration References Committee's Inquiry into the Management and Assurance of Integrity by Consulting Services. I want to thank colleagues, particularly Senators Colbeck and O'Neill, for their work on these inquiries. It was a big job, and we worked very collectively and cooperatively on it. It is rare that you see tripartisan recommendations in this place on such a large body of work, which makes Labor's incredibly woeful response to the two consultant inquiry recommendations, to me, all the more disappointing. Australians are tired of seeing the same story play out over and over again. First, there's a massive scandal. In this case, it's PwC deliberately monetising confidential Treasury information. We cannot forget that this was one of the most shocking breaches of public trust in recent memory. PwC made millions of dollars in fees, and staff gloated in internal emails about their success. Next, an inquiry is announced and evidence is gathered. Between the two inquiries, we held 22 public hearings and received 144 submissions. Australians paid attention. We unearthed a tidal wave of malpractice, poor governance and structural failures. We asked serious questions about integrity, influence and the hollowing out of the public sector. Our reports were issued, with clear road maps for how reform needed to unfold. Between them, the two inquiries made 52 evidence-based recommendations, which were agreed by Labor, the Liberals and Greens. Then, just when the public expects decisive action, the government shrugs. It issues a short response and quietly moves on. That is not accountability. It is not leadership, and it is not good enough. What good is the Labor Party if our community and our Senate go through all of that work and then it simply makes tiny steps towards progress? What is a Labor government for if not to d…
date: 2026-02-05T16:19:00+00:00

Housing; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise, also, to speak on this motion. I've got to say, the minister's response today was extraordinary. It was insulting. It trivialised an issue that is affecting the lives of millions of...
encoded: I rise, also, to speak on this motion. I've got to say, the minister's response today was extraordinary. It was insulting. It trivialised an issue that is affecting the lives of millions of Australians—first home buyers; young people; people who've given up on getting into housing. And he doesn't think this is serious. He made a lot of jokes; he thought it was an amusing issue. And he defended the hardworking public servants who try and get this data out to the Senate to inform decisions. He didn't deal with the critical question that this seeking of information is trying to address. We are in a housing crisis where we need to know what works and what doesn't and the impact of policy changes on the critical crisis in housing. This OPD is looking for documents which show the effect of that five per cent deposit scheme on house prices—the second time the minister has been required to attend and explain the failure to comply with this matter. We're a chamber of review, and it's important that we get the data, the information that we need, so that we can take apart and examine, look at, the rationale and the modelling of the impact of this decision on pushing up house prices. Prices are completely out of control in this country and they are affecting the lives of so many families and households. The parliament had no oversight of the recent expansion of the five per cent scheme which removed income limits entirely for people to have access to this scheme. Where is Labor's commitment to the low-and-middle income earners, the first home buyers, who really need the most help? We've had people across the country who are experts—economists, the Reserve Bank, Treasury; so many experts—tell us, they all warned, that these changes would result in increased prices in housing, and they have. If you feed demand, you push up prices where supply is constrained—especially in the case of moderately priced housing, which is where first home buyers are focused. This change has pushed up…
date: 2026-02-05T15:22:00+00:00

Economy | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
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description: Working people are being made to absorb the economic pain caused by extreme wealth in this country. The Reserve Bank has just confirmed what workers across the nation already know: their wages...
encoded: Working people are being made to absorb the economic pain caused by extreme wealth in this country. The Reserve Bank has just confirmed what workers across the nation already know: their wages are not keeping up with the cost of essentials and are not expected to meaningfully grow until the end of 2027. At the same time, inflation has spiked again, and people with debt are being asked to pay the price in the form of higher interest payments. That means another year where working households fall further and further behind through no fault of their own. Nurses, cleaners, teachers and tradies are working hard, paying their taxes and trying to keep up with growing prices, yet their purchasing power keeps shrinking. Not only are these workers paying more tax than a third of big corporations in Australia, but—as we are told by the Reserve Bank—their wages are now not keeping pace with the cost of essential groceries and things that are important to every household in this country, especially the cost of housing—of mortgages and of rent. House prices and rents are completely out of control in this country. We are in a severe housing crisis. Yet, instead of reforming tax concessions that are fuelling that house price spike and fuelling inequality, the government is presiding over falling real wages, rising interest rates and a tax system where workers are hit harder than millionaires and billionaires. This is not just an economic failure; it's a political choice with serious consequences for intergenerational inequality. This government is responsible for a system that tackles inflation by suppressing the household income of workers while protecting housing wealth and corporate profits. Until a Labor government is willing to confront the concentration of wealth in the country, working people will keep paying the price of inequality. Until they're willing to fix the tax system and take those big tax breaks away from wealthy property hoarders, the housing crisis will get wors…
date: 2026-02-05T13:54:00+00:00

Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee; Reference | Committees | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move: That the following matter be referred to the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 24 April 2026: The capacity of the existing legislative...
encoded: I move: That the following matter be referred to the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 24 April 2026: The capacity of the existing legislative framework that created and governs Australia's specialist investment vehicles (SIVs), with particular reference to: (a) the effectiveness of the following Acts: (i) Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012, (ii) Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011, (iii) National Reconstruction Fund Act 2023, (iv) Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund Act 2016, (v) Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act 1991, and (vi) Regional Investment Corporation Act 2018; (b) the importance of countering the threat of investment uncertainty and higher energy and capital costs that would result from abandoning net zero by 2050; (c) how existing SIVs can be improved, restructured and harmonised to create a stable, long-term investment environment for the widespread deployment of clean technologies in Australia; (d) whether the current structures of financing offered by SIVs and the targeting of finance at different points in the research, pilot and commercialisation stages are fit for purpose and where they can be improved; (e) how the various application processes can be streamlined and improved, particularly for early-stage businesses and technologies; (f) any other related potential changes to the law to ensure investment certainty and guard against a future federal government that is hostile to clean technologies; (g) lessons to promote to potential investors how the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency successfully generated billions of dollars of investment while withstanding multiple attempts by previous Coalition federal governments to dismantle and interfere with their capital deployment and statutory responsibilities; and (h) any other related matters.
date: 2026-02-05T12:08:00+00:00

Taxation | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to take note of the answers given to Senator Waters regarding the deeply unfair billion-dollar tax breaks for wealthy property hoarders. Reforming the capital gains tax discount is...
encoded: I rise to take note of the answers given to Senator Waters regarding the deeply unfair billion-dollar tax breaks for wealthy property hoarders. Reforming the capital gains tax discount is obvious. It's long overdue, and a growing number of people in our country know this is true. All of Australia's significant economists get it. They want to see a change. Unions support it. Working people understand it. Welfare groups see it as an urgent reform required for fairness in our community. It's supported by many people in this parliament, including many on the Labor side of politics. Yet, instead of acting to make housing more affordable, Labor is choosing policies that turbocharge housing prices. Unbelievably, they are making things worse. They're handing out obscene tax breaks to people buying their 50th, 60th or 70th investment property. No wonder homeownership rates for young people are falling. No wonder so many young people are so depressed at their prospects of getting housing security. Labor is prioritising wealthy property investors over renters. They're doing it over the interests of so many people who find themselves catapulted into homelessness, and they're doing it over the interests of people who are facing increasing mortgage stress. Labor is spending more on those tax breaks for wealthy housing investors than on social housing, homelessness and rent assistance combined. Let that sink in. That's about priorities, and they're all wrong on the Labor side of politics. The Labor government is giving more support to making housing unaffordable, especially for our young people. Meanwhile, Australians are working harder than ever and still falling behind. And, yes, real wages are falling. Things are going to get worse for a long time before they get better. Rents keep going up. First home buyers are locked out. The cost of living is eating away at the chances to get those savings that young people are seeking to get into the housing market. Mortgage stress is the …
date: 2026-02-04T15:30:00+00:00

Tibet | Adjournment | Senate debates
type: item
description: It is my honour tonight to speak of the Dalai Lama and my recent trip to Dharamsala meet him—a highlight of my life—and to meet with the Tibetan government in exile. It's a particular...
encoded: It is my honour tonight to speak of the Dalai Lama and my recent trip to Dharamsala meet him—a highlight of my life—and to meet with the Tibetan government in exile. It's a particular honour to do so in the presence of Mr Karma Singey and members of the Tibetan community here in Canberra. Last night was a special night. The Dalai Lama starred at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in LA. He won Best Audio Book for his album, Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It's not every 90-year-old international leader who wins a contemporary music award like the Grammys, and he won to world acclaim. But then, there is nothing ordinary about the Dalai Lama. This award wasn't just a win for an album but global recognition of the message that the Dalai Lama has championed in every year since 1959 when he was exiled from his beloved home of Tibet and began his long march for human rights. I congratulate the Dalai Lama on his award. Receiving it, he said: I truly believe that peace, compassion, care for our environment, and an understanding of the oneness of humanity are essential for the collective well-being of all eight billion human beings. I'm grateful that this Grammy recognition can help spread these messages more widely. In an immediate illustration of the political hostility of the Chinese government to the message of the Dalai Lama and the human rights of the people of Tibet, the Chinese government attacked the award as a tool of 'anti-China political manipulation'. Anyone who listens to the Dalai Lama's album will see the absurdity of this attack. Anyone who knows the history of Tibet and the determination of the Dalai Lama to foster democracy in Tibet can see this attack for what it is: hostility to the freedom of expression and the rights of Tibetans, including their spiritual leader. On my trip to Dharamsala, I was proud to represent the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Friends of Tibet. On the delegation, I was joined by fellow parliamen…
date: 2026-02-03T20:59:00+00:00

Housing | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
type: item
description: What a dark day. Just hours ago, the Reserve Bank raised interest rates to 3.85 per cent. This is one of the shortest and shallowest rate-cutting cycles in three decades. What this actually means...
encoded: What a dark day. Just hours ago, the Reserve Bank raised interest rates to 3.85 per cent. This is one of the shortest and shallowest rate-cutting cycles in three decades. What this actually means is that millions of Australians will bear the brunt of this interest rate rise because the government has not tackled two major causes of inflation: spiralling health costs and corporate profiteering. If you are a mortgage holder or renter, you're being hit by the RBA to fix the government's inflation problem. The government's priorities mean that everyday Australians are copping the pain, while banks, energy companies and property investors keep winning. People are rightly worried about their economic security, their wages and their futures. They are hurting. We know that housing is a huge contributor to our inflation and the cost-of-living crisis. According to the ABS, housing was the largest contributor to annual inflation over the past 12 months, with a 5.5 per cent rise. Politics is all about choices. Just the other day, new data from ACOSS showed that the federal government spends more on tax breaks for wealthy property investors than it does on social housing, homelessness and rent assistance combined. That's a choice, a choice against the issues that are facing so many Australians in housing stress. This is $12.3 billion of foregone revenue towards the deeply unfair capital gains tax discount and negative gearing tax break while social housing waiting lists exceed 10 years in every major city. Social housing makes up less than two per cent of dwellings today. That's down from 22 per cent of all housing built annually in the 1950s. We know things can be different. We are at a record low in social housing stock, which only makes persistent homelessness worse. Come to my city of Adelaide and you can see it on our streets and parklands every day and every night. There are nine preventable deaths every single day of people who have experienced homelessness. This is a nat…
date: 2026-02-03T18:01:00+00:00

Bondi Beach: Attack | Condolences | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise today, like so many others in this place, with a heavy heart, to speak on behalf of my community and my conscience about the tragic events that unfolded at Bondi Beach on 14 December last...
encoded: I rise today, like so many others in this place, with a heavy heart, to speak on behalf of my community and my conscience about the tragic events that unfolded at Bondi Beach on 14 December last year—on what should have been a beautiful night of celebration, the first evening of Hanukkah, a horrific and senseless act of violence against the people gathered at Bondi. Fifteen innocent people were killed, dozens more were injured and the lives of so many families, friends and loved ones were forever changed by grief. This was an attack on Jewish people and on a Jewish community gathering, an attack on a community, so many of whom came to Australia and have come to Australia seeking refuge—including, in my own family, Selene Malefsky, who, like so many Jewish Europeans, sought refuge from antisemitic pogroms and the Holocaust and including, so tragically, Alex Kleytman, amongst those killed at Bondi, having himself survived the Holocaust. It was, at the same time, an attack on the very values that define us as Australians, an attack on our safety as a community—something we all value, we all need and we must protect for the future of our children and generations to come. We mourn those who were robbed of life, of laughter, of a future—a future that can never be reclaimed. We hold in our thoughts and in our hearts their families and friends, those who will carry this loss with them forever. I extend my deepest condolences to the Jewish community, who face unimaginable pain and fear as a result of this horrendous attack. Antisemitism has no place in our country. Our Jewish communities, schools, events, celebrations and homes must be safe. We stand united in rejecting hatred and antisemitism absolutely and hatred in all of its forms. We are not safe unless all of us are safe. In the wake of this violence and amidst our great, shared grief, our nation has witnessed something powerful: the extraordinary capacity of our communities to care for one another in moments of such p…
date: 2026-01-19T15:11:00+00:00

g202.1
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
description: I want to make a short statement; I don't have questions. Today the Greens have announced that we will support the Environment Reform Bill 2025 and related bills, having achieved significant...
encoded: I want to make a short statement; I don't have questions. Today the Greens have announced that we will support the Environment Reform Bill 2025 and related bills, having achieved significant amendments for new protections for our native forests and excluding coal and gas from fast-tracking. We've negotiated significant wins, but we know it's nowhere near enough. This package, however, is better than the status quo—considerably better than the status quo—and it's a whole lot better than it would have been if negotiated with the climate deniers on the other side of this chamber. Labor's first draft was a wish list for corporate environmental destruction. It would have gutted our environment laws, given corporations the green light for new coal and gas projects with just a 30-day approval process, and introduced new loopholes to an already very weak act. Instead, Greens pressure made this bill better than the weak laws we have and infinitely better than if the government had done that deal with the climate deniers in the coalition. While Labor had clearly hoped to pass a bill on behalf of big corporations, the Greens held firm during negotiations on protections for nature, boosted by community opposition to a bill that took us backwards. We won outcomes that forest campaigners have fought for across this country for decades—not enough, but a significant step in the right direction to begin the proper protection of our native forests—and we made it harder for big corporations to keep wrecking nature—our beautiful forests and all the creatures who live in them. We have ended an outrageous legal carve-out for logging that's resulted in devastation of our forests and threatened the habitats of our species that are at risk. We've fought for and won the removal of the ability of coal and gas projects to use fast-tracked approvals or the national interest loophole—such important wins. We've fought for and won the protection of the water trigger. We said from the start the Gre…
date: 2025-11-27T16:51:00+00:00

Environment, Rising Tide: Protests | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
type: item
description: Today the Greens negotiated significant wins to protect our forests and to stop Labor's fast-tracking of coal and gas. We stood up to end decades of exemptions for forest destruction and to...
encoded: Today the Greens negotiated significant wins to protect our forests and to stop Labor's fast-tracking of coal and gas. We stood up to end decades of exemptions for forest destruction and to remove the ability for coal and gas projects to use fast-tracked approvals or the national-interest loophole. We've pushed and pushed for powers to stop illegal land clearing and we have negotiated saving the water trigger and ensuring that the federal minister can step in to protect the environment. These are such important wins, which were only possible because the Greens are here in the parliament fighting for nature. That's why South Australians have put me here: to do everything I can for our planet and for future generations. The outcome today is far better than the train wreck we would have seen had there been a deal between the climate deniers on that side of the house and Labor. Despite the significant wins for nature, our climate crisis needs more—so much more. Labor has repeatedly refused to support a climate trigger despite huge public support for it, preventing the environment minister from considering climate damage when approving projects. What a failure. What a travesty. Labor's refusal to take meaningful climate action shows the power that the coal and gas lobby still holds on both parties in this place. That's why, for the third year in a row, I'm delighted to be joining Rising Tide this weekend in Newcastle, to paddle out onto the beautiful Hunter River to protest our export of coal, along with hundreds of South Australians and Australians, including my kids, my family and my friends. Through our participation in Rising Tide, we are mounting a powerful protest against fossil fuels—against coal—and the damage they're doing to our planet, and for the transition that places like the Hunter Valley need for a safe planet for the future.
date: 2025-11-27T13:46:00+00:00

Government Response to Report; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move: That— (a) the Senate notes that: (i) in accordance with Senate resolution 44, government responses to parliamentary committee reports are required to be tabled within 3 months of a...
encoded: I move: That— (a) the Senate notes that: (i) in accordance with Senate resolution 44, government responses to parliamentary committee reports are required to be tabled within 3 months of a report being tabled, (ii) the Finance and Public Administration References Committee tabled its report entitled Management and assurance of integrity by consulting services on 12 June 2024, (iii) a government response has not been tabled even though it was due by 12 September 2024, (iv) the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services tabled its report entitled Ethics and professional accountability: Structural challenges in the audit, assurance and consultancy industry on 7 November 2024, and (v) a government response has not been tabled even though it was due by 7 February 2025; (b) there be laid on the table by the Minister for Finance and Minister for the Public Service, by no later than midday on 15 December 2025, the outstanding government response to the report of the Finance and Public Administration References Committee entitled Management and assurance of integrity by consulting services; and (c) there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Assistant Treasurer, by no later than midday on 15 December 2025, the outstanding government response to the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services entitled Ethics and professional accountability: Structural challenges in the audit, assurance and consultancy industry. Question agreed to.
date: 2025-11-27T12:14:00+00:00

Economics References Committee; Reference | Committees | Senate debates
type: item
description: I seek leave to amend business of the Senate notice of motion No. 8 before asking that it be taken as formal. Leave granted. I, and also on behalf of Senators Whish-Wilson and David Pocock, move...
encoded: I seek leave to amend business of the Senate notice of motion No. 8 before asking that it be taken as formal. Leave granted. I, and also on behalf of Senators Whish-Wilson and David Pocock, move the motion as amended: That the following matter be referred to the Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 31 March 2026: Funding and resourcing for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), with particular reference to: (a) the nature of recent and proposed job and program cuts in the CSIRO; (b) the importance of public funding for public good science; (c) the importance of public resourcing of Australian sovereign scientific capability; (d) the recruitment and retention of staff including senior and mid-career researchers, along with the training and career paths of early-career researchers; (e) CSIRO's commercialisation of scientific research; (f) the long-term capability needs of the CSIRO, including workforce, infrastructure and equipment; (g) the role and independence of the CSIRO's leadership in making resourcing allocation decisions; (h) the effects of these cuts on the program of scientific work conducted by the CSIRO, including in relation to: (i) areas of fundamental and basic scientific study that do not find ready industry funding partners, (ii) areas of scientific study that relate to emergent, pressing and/or priority issues like the pace, impact and mitigation of climate change including study of the oceans, biodiversity, agricultural adaption to a changing climate, and related issues, and (iii) the particular burden of proposed cuts on the Environment Research Unit; and (i) any related matters. Question agreed to.
date: 2025-11-26T15:47:00+00:00

Adelaide: Built Environment | Adjournment | Senate debates
type: item
description: I did enjoy that contribution. I rise to talk about a significant new building in South Australia: South Australia's first skyscraper, 38 storeys high, which is planned to be built a few metres...
encoded: I did enjoy that contribution. I rise to talk about a significant new building in South Australia: South Australia's first skyscraper, 38 storeys high, which is planned to be built a few metres from our South Australian parliament, on our precious public parklands in our city. It's called Walker tower 2. It's the child of a rich-listed property developer, Walker Corporation, a multibillion-dollar enterprise. It is a huge building of 38 storeys, alongside Walker tower 1, which is a mere 28 storeys. Approval of the first Walker tower was on the basis that it was offset and set back from Parliament House, that it didn't obscure the view of our beautiful parliament building from the north and that it didn't disrupt the sight-lines of this very important South Australian monument, and with the agreement that only three storeys would be built next door to Walker tower 1—the place where we now see a proposal for a building of 38 storeys. On 11 June this year, the South Australian State Planning Commission assessment panel granted planning consent for this building. Since then, over 125 eminent South Australians and many others—and this group included former premier the Hon. Reverend Dr Lynn Arnold AO, former president of the Legislative Council the Hon. Anne Levy AO and so many others—have signed an open letter calling on the Premier and the South Australian parliament to stop the construction of Walker Tower 2 to protect our Festival Plaza as open civic space and retain it as public land. The construction of Walker Tower 2 would incur a major loss of open civic space and negatively impact really vital heritage values of our Parliament House complex and our beautiful Adelaide parklands. These are two of South Australia's National Heritage listings. We have nine, but these are two of our National Heritage listings. If you've visited South Australia, you will have admired the beautiful green spaces, internationally famous, like Central Park in New York, for being the lungs o…
date: 2025-11-25T21:18:00+00:00

Domestic and Family Violence | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Women (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice asked by Senator Waters today relating to violence against women....
encoded: I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Women (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice asked by Senator Waters today relating to violence against women. I rise to take note of the answers given to Senator Waters regarding the deeply troubling reality facing older women in Australia, especially in relation to housing, a reality laid bare in the recent Priced out, run down report by Housing for the Aged Action Group and the Swinburne University of Technology. That report was released just this week, and we've had a delegation here in Parliament House. This report confirms what frontline services have been telling us for years: older women are amongst the fastest-growing groups falling into poverty, housing insecurity and homelessness. We know that women over the age of 55 are eight times more likely to experience homelessness than other groups. When they do have a home, they are disproportionately poor-quality homes in insecure, private rentals, and they place women under increasing financial strain. In the private rental market, 35 per cent of older women are living in homes that are both unaffordable and in poor condition, far higher rates than affect men. These are homes with leaks, mould and structural issues, homes that are expensive as well as inadequate, homes that undermine health and wellbeing. Single older women are one of the most marginalised groups in the fight for safe, affordable and suitable housing. This is a gender inequality issue at play. As the report states, this disparity stems from lifelong disadvantages like the gender pay gap, time taken off for caring and lower-paid work, all of which accumulate into severe housing insecurity later in life, a lifetime of care for others and a retirement and older years of poverty and insecurity. Housing insecurity for women is not just an economic issue; it's also a question of safety. Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Almo…
date: 2025-11-25T15:44:00+00:00

Housing Australia; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to take note of the minister's explanation. As I've said time and again, as have many of my colleagues in this chamber, I'm deeply concerned by the lack of compliance with Senate motions...
encoded: I rise to take note of the minister's explanation. As I've said time and again, as have many of my colleagues in this chamber, I'm deeply concerned by the lack of compliance with Senate motions by this government. This isn't a new trend. The Centre for Public Integrity raised the alarm on declining compliance rates in 2023. Compelling the production of documents is one of the most significant powers this chamber has to hold government to account. In the area of housing policy we're seeing a particular lack of transparency and accountability from this government at a moment of deep crisis around the housing issues in our country. I'm still waiting for my overdue OPD on public and community housing spending, which was due back two months ago. Housing is a crucial issue. There's nothing more important right now than having a safe roof over your head, and so many people are struggling, especially renters—seven million Australians in three million households, and all those first home buyers and homeowners who shrink when they read the headlines every day in our newspapers and listen to the radio. It's getting worse for those people who want to enter homeownership, and especially for our young people. We see so many people living in crippling housing stress and with huge mortgage repayments. Homelessness is also a growing problem—10 per cent growth on Labor's watch, since Labor came to power. Everywhere you look, the news is only getting worse and worse. Just today, Cotality's new housing affordability report shows that Australia's housing affordability has 'hit new lows' compared to the past five years. The median house is now 8.9 times the median income, up from 6.6 just five years ago. National dwelling values have grown 6.3 per cent in this year to date, and Westpac forecasts they're going to grow by an enormous nine per cent next year. In reality, this means that saving for a 20 per cent deposit for a house now will take more than 12 years—12 years! Cotality's report…
date: 2025-11-25T15:14:00+00:00

Housing | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to speak to this matter which is clearly an issue of public urgency—the need to rein in tax breaks that are overheating our housing marking and to work to see APRA cut investor...
encoded: I rise to speak to this matter which is clearly an issue of public urgency—the need to rein in tax breaks that are overheating our housing marking and to work to see APRA cut investor lending, as it has historically. The truth is simple in relation to housing in this country—if this government put people first and exercised every possible tool in the toolbox, this housing crisis could be dealt with. We could assist those many thousands of Australians—so many of them young people—feeling enormous anxiety about their opportunity to ever get into homeownership. Instead, we see a tsunami of investor activity distorting the very purpose of housing in this country. Instead of homes giving people shelter and safety, housing is being treated as a speculative investment vehicle. It has been turned into an asset for wealth accumulation. It's no longer the key first plank of economic security in our country—that is, a roof over your head—and it's getting worse. Investor loans have reached a record high this year. They now account for more than 40 per cent of total new loans, up from just 25 per cent in 2020. When investor demand outpaces owner-occupier demand like this, you don't just get more buyers; you get a bidding war. First home buyers are losing, and they are feeling it every weekend in every city and too many towns across our country. This surge in investor demand doesn't just push prices up; it locks in expectations of future growth and fuels ever more speculative buying. House prices are now forecast to rise by nine per cent next year, and that's on top of six per cent already this year. This is causing enormous anxiety across our country for young people. Labor is making things worse. Labor's policies are exacerbating the problem. Their five per cent deposit scheme, designed to be an assistance to first home buyers, is now unleashing a wave of first home buyers and investors competing for the same small group of properties, driving up the price of housing in October…
date: 2025-11-24T18:53:00+00:00

Housing | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to speak about the housing crisis. In the past year, rents around Australia have risen between seven and 14 per cent—in a single year. That's two to four times the rate of increase...
encoded: I rise to speak about the housing crisis. In the past year, rents around Australia have risen between seven and 14 per cent—in a single year. That's two to four times the rate of increase in wages in that same year. How are renters meant to keep up when their rents are growing two, three or even four times as fast as their incomes? It's even worse for low-income households. A hospitality worker living in a one-bedroom unit in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane or the ACT spends nearly half their income on rent. People on JobSeeker who have been forced into the private rental market, due to a lack of public and social housing, simply cannot afford these rents. Most renters have a landlord who owns two or more properties and whose household wealth is more than double their own. Why are we prioritising these wealthy landlords over hardworking renters—60 per cent of these renters don't think they will ever be able to own their own home. We've consistently put the needs of an elite few above the needs of the majority. In the last two decades, we have seen a housing crisis that both the major parties have fuelled. If a rent regulation policy were introduced just five years ago, Adelaide renters could be paying around $140 a week less on their rent right now. Think about what a difference that $140 would make. We can't turn back time, but we must act now, or rents will continue to increase exponentially. The Greens are the only party pushing to end unlimited rent increases.
date: 2025-11-06T13:55:00+00:00

Selection of Bills Committee; Report | Committees | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to support Senator McKim's amendment in relation to the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Work from Home) Bill. Today, what we're seeing is Labor and the Liberals joining forces to delay...
encoded: I rise to support Senator McKim's amendment in relation to the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Work from Home) Bill. Today, what we're seeing is Labor and the Liberals joining forces to delay action on an issue that matters to millions of Australians out there—the right to work from home. My bill would give workers the right to work from home for up to two days a week—a modest, sensible reform. It's already a reform that's been adopted and pushed by people around the country and governments. It's a sensible reform that reflects how Australians actually do want to live and work. It's in the media every day. We see Westpac trying to roll back that right and being held to account in the Fair Work Commission. We see banks put on notice that they must honour those work-from-home provisions in agreements and make sure they look after workers. This is a very live issue right now for millions of Australians. Instead of debating its merits, both major parties have voted to defer the decision to send this important bill to inquiry. This is extraordinary. It's a longstanding Senate convention that private senators' bills, especially those from the crossbench, are sent to inquiries so they can be properly examined. Stakeholders, experts and the public get to have a say. It begs the question: why have the major parties teamed up to delay this right for workers? The coalition has a long history of eroding workers' rights and siding with the bosses—no surprise there. But Labor is supposedly the party of the workers, yet here they are, standing in the way of expanding the rights and improving the lives of workers in this country, especially women, especially parents, especially carers and many others who also want the chance to work from home and have a protected right to work from home. Yet here they are, standing in the way of expanding those rights and improving the lives of workers. So, who benefits from this delay? Who is Labor working for in delaying it? Let's be clear. They ca…
date: 2025-11-06T11:21:00+00:00

Housing | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: The need for the Australian Government to reform their $181 billion tax breaks for wealthy property investors and...
encoded: I move: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: The need for the Australian Government to reform their $181 billion tax breaks for wealthy property investors and their 5% deposit scheme which are threatening the stability of our housing system while the big banks are on track to make $30 billion in profits this financial year. I'm speaking to the urgency of the housing crisis. We're in a housing crisis that's becoming more severe every day in this place. I know young people who are too frightened to open a newspaper for the bad news that lies there every day about what's happening to house prices. There was a more than one percent increase in a single month, in October—the fastest monthly pace in the last two years. House prices are increasing everywhere—in every city, in every regional town, in every country town. One in three houses in Australian suburbs is now worth an incredible $1 million. No wonder 59 per cent of renters don't think they'll ever be able to afford to buy their own home. Homelessness levels are at their worst in living memory, and homelessness services are being pushed to the brink. The major parties are failing us. Labor has been in government for three years; when will they take accountability for making the crisis worse? Labor's failure to reel in the tax breaks for wealthy property investors—$181 billion in tax breaks over the next 10 years—is also fuelling the crisis. South Australians contact me every single day telling me to urge this government to wind back these handouts. We know that Labor's policies and lack of ambition are making things worse, but don't be fooled into thinking the Liberals would be any better. It's ironic that yesterday the Liberals called the home guarantee scheme irresponsible, given that it was originally their own policy. It's also funny that Liberals are calling any housing policy irresponsible, given that they've recently dumped their widely criticised 'super for housing' polic…
date: 2025-11-05T16:05:00+00:00

Housing Australia; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to speak to this attendance motion. In attending today, the minister has not provided the documents that are being sought. We're here because last week the independent review into...
encoded: I rise to speak to this attendance motion. In attending today, the minister has not provided the documents that are being sought. We're here because last week the independent review into governance and operational concerns at Housing Australia was due to be tabled. It's been sought, as we've heard, for quite some time. The government has once again failed to comply with this OPD in a timely manner. There can be no doubt the Senate needs as much useful information about the administration of housing as we can possibly look at in what is, day to day, becoming worse and worse as a crisis in housing. In the last month, housing prices have increased by more than one per cent in a single month. We now have homeownership rates of people under 25 that are around a third, compared to 51 per cent back in the early 1970s. We've got a rate of homelessness that has increased by 10 per cent, in the years of this Labor government. So we need accountability. We need to know what's going on inside the policy solutions, so called, that the Labor government are putting forward. And we need know what's going on within the administration of this system. I'm very concerned about what I'm hearing about Housing Australia and the Housing Australia Future Fund. We need information about these important, very large programs in the midst of a housing crisis. I'm very concerned, along with many others in the chamber, about the increasing secretive response to requests for information, particularly in relation to housing. Without publicly accessible information, non-government senators need motions like these or estimates or whatever to try and get to the answers in relation to very few questions about the administration of sizeable amounts of money to fix and respond to a housing crisis. Australians and their senators deserve to know what's going on and to have a government which is open and transparent about its spending. We want our housing system to work well. We want a housing system that r…
date: 2025-11-05T15:12:00+00:00