Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of government answers to questions. I have sat here not for five weeks, Senator Collins, but for three weeks. There have only been three sitting weeks in this term of government of the 48th Parliament. I'm not sure where we got five weeks from; it might feel like five for some people, but we've only been here three.

All week I sat across the chamber and watched Senator Bragg ask some of these questions. His hyperfixation on wording was so evident this afternoon towards the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Wong, in relation to housing. I admire his persistence, if you'd like to call it that, in him wanting to get a particular answer. In fact, I think the word 'laserlike' fits the way he approaches his questioning during question time.

To see the reality of it, let's share some statistics. Labor is delivering 55,000 social and affordable rental homes, and 28,000 of those are in construction and planning stages. Over 4,000 have already been completed. As at 30 June 2025, contracts have been signed to support 18,650 dwellings under the first rounds of the $10 billion HAFF. This build is quite significant in investments across the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator payment, and the $1 billion National Housing Infrastructure Facility, and a range of other programs, by which together we will boost the supply. Supply is the key word here. It is the word of the day, so take note: that's the supply of social and affordable housing in Australia.

I note the interjection of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Cash, and the rabble in what's going on across the coalition here. Don't forget there's a tinge of teal in that, because we also saw in the 47th Parliament the Greens gang up with the 'no-alition' around blocking the housing bill. So there's no shame from that end of the chamber either.

This housing mess has been 40 years in the making. It's nearly as old as I am. Last Friday, I took the opportunity to go down Pier Street, and I invite Senator Cash to go down there and have a look. I was on the 11th storey of a wonderful apartment building that is being built under this very fund that the federal government, the Albanese Labor government, is delivering alongside the WA state government. I was joined by my wonderful colleague and friend the member for Perth, Patrick Gorman, and also our WA state housing minister, John Carey, to talk about what we're going to do. That building alone will be 29 stories of apartments in central Perth, close to services and close to transport for Western Australians. We are delivering on our housing commitments.

But it's not just that apartment building in the electorate of Perth. There are 14 others that we are delivering just in Western Australia, Deputy President—and I know that, just like me, you're a proud Western Australian and that you know the housing crisis is a life-defining challenge for lots of Australians, millions of Australians, in fact.

We hear. We are listening to the challenges that young people are having. Young people tell me, when I speak to them, that they feel they will never be able to afford a home. Our investment is the most ambitious and the boldest of an Australian government ever. Because, before, we've always left this to the states and territories to basically do the work, and now we are doing that in the postwar period. We are making sure that's the investment that the Albanese Labor government are going to deliver on in this term.

Our $43 billion that Senator Collins mentioned—our agenda is part of three things, which are building more homes, making it better to rent and making it easier to buy. That's why just this week we implemented our Help to Buy scheme—our first national shared equity scheme—to deliver on the five per cent deposit guarantee for every first home buyer. I know that, if that were the conversation happening in this chamber during question time, the faces of the young people in this chamber would've lit up—instead of that stuff. (Time expired)