Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Commonwealth currently spends around $6 billion of taxpayer funds annually on housing assistance and homelessness services. Labor pretend that housing affordability can be fixed overnight with a tax increase, but the fact is they failed to deliver on housing affordability in six years of government. Labor failed to provide funding for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness beyond 30 June 2014. Labor's National Rental Affordability Scheme was poorly designed and poorly managed, and has fallen well short of expectations. Economic modelling released today states that Labor's housing affordability policy would push up average rents by $2,600 a year, push 70,000 households into rental stress and increase the housing shortage.