Linda Kirk (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Scullion, the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Is the minister aware of a report by the Urban Development Institute which says that only 39 per cent of households can now afford to buy a house in their local area compared to 96 per cent in 2001? Doesn’t the same report find that over one-quarter of houses are considered to be unaffordable for working families? What impact will the ninth interest rate rise in a row have on housing affordability? Can the minister confirm that it will in fact make homeownership an even more distant dream for working families?