Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Walker. You're right: deposits aren't the only challenge we, and particularly young Australians, face in housing, and, for 40 years, this country hasn't been building enough houses. Lack of supply is a serious challenge and one that has to continue to be addressed. That's why this government is delivering 55,000 social and affordable homes, working with the states and territories, investing $54 million to manufacture more homes more quickly and making it easier for builders across the country to build more homes more quickly by pausing and streamlining the National Construction Code and turbocharging environmental approvals to unlock thousands more homes. That is all in contrast to those opposite, who continue to interject and who seem to believe that it's only those who can really afford a house who should get one and that government doesn't have a role in trying to improve affordability by investing in supply. That is the position of the opposition. (Time expired)