Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. I actually will. The Albanese government's decision to expand the housing guarantee scheme without any corresponding plan to increase supply is reckless. More buyers, fewer homes—that means that house prices will skyrocket, and experts are predicting exactly that. In fact, they're saying potentially up to $90,000 increases in Sydney because of Labor's policy—directly because of Labor's policy.

Even Treasury admit that this policy will push up housing prices, but they do it anyway. Changes of this scope and this scale which threaten massive taxpayer liability and demonstrably inflate the price of houses for the very people that this scheme is purported to help must be subject to the oversight of elected officials. That's what we are here to do. We are here to do that. But, instead, they have circumvented that oversight. You have circumvented that scrutiny. You have hidden from transparency. You have set aside accountability.

The bill that is before us today, a bill that has been put forward by the coalition, by Senator Bragg, will ensure that Australians are protected from that arbitrary government decision-making, that they are protected from executive overreach and that they are protected from the desire for this government—and I'm using their words not mine—to 'crunch' the opposition and 'crunch' the crossbench. You said you would use your numbers, and you have done so effectively, but you do not own this chamber. We will make sure that this government is held to account for its lack of transparency, its lack of accountability and its scandalous behaviour today.