Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I have to say it is impressive how hard this government works to wreck young people's futures. Take Labor's so-called housing policy. They spin their five per cent deposit scheme as a helping hand onto the property ladder. But the reality is that it's more like a shove into deeper debt. You only have to look at the numbers to see that.

Property prices are now rising at the fastest pace in two years. In Melbourne, the median home costs nearly $974,000, while the median salary barely hovers around $70,000. How on earth is a young person, or even a family, supposed to make that work?

Instead of tackling the root causes, Labor refuses to touch the $181 billion in tax breaks for wealthy property investors—capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing. These giveaways inflate the market, push up prices and lock out first home buyers. Their five per cent deposit scheme has thrown petrol on the fire, turbocharging an already out-of-control housing crisis in this country.

For renters it's even worse. Rents have skyrocketed by 44 per cent in just five years! Essential workers—including nurses, teachers and ambos—can't afford to live in the communities they serve. More than 70 per cent of young people now believe they will never own a home. The odds are well and truly stacked against them.

But this isn't just a housing crisis. It's a morality crisis, a failure by consecutive governments to treat shelter as a basic human right. Housing schemes mean nothing for the thousands of people sleeping rough in cars across this country. In Victoria, 86 per cent of councils report a rise in homelessness while public housing towers are being demolished. The Australian dream of secure, affordable housing has been sold off and buried under decades of policies designed to protect investors, developers and the big banks. And those banks are on track to rake in $30 billion in profits this financial year! That's absolutely obscene and disgusting. Meanwhile, there's no serious plan to fix supply, no real investment in public or community housing, and no vision for long-term security.

The message from this government is clear. They will keep fuelling a system that rewards speculation over shelter and profit over people. The Greens will keep fighting to make housing a human right, not a plaything for the wealthy few.