Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

It is as true of the housing portfolio as it is of every other government portfolio that you are in a much better position to assist the Australian people if you have a government that is living within its means, if you have a government that is not spending billions and billions of dollars on interest payments. Every single dollar that is spent on an interest repayment is a dollar that cannot be spent on housing, health, transport and people with disability. Something that this chamber and those opposite need to understand is that there is an opportunity cost for each dollar that goes on the interest bill. We are working hard on getting the budget back into balance. We are working hard on a plan to repay debt. If we do that, we will be in a much better position to do the right thing than those opposite ever were, including in housing policy.