David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I know there are some in this place who are busy telling people the housing crisis is caused by migration. They tell people this easy lie and the supposedly easy solution. We expect to hear that racist sentiment from One Nation and the Liberals, but we can't forget Labor's role in enabling it. On 4 November last year Senator Bell, from One Nation, asked a question which attempted to blame the housing crisis on migration. He asked the government when serious removals would begin. Instead of condemning or even disputing One Nation's racist dog whistle, Minister Watt from Labor said he had already outlined some of the steps this government has taken to reduce net overseas migration. When someone asks if you are going to kick out migrants who are taking all our houses, you don't accept the premise; you fight it—unless, like Labor, you have no other solutions and you're willing to join the dog whistle.

Research by the Australia Institute shows that the number of dwellings is growing faster than the population. The real problem here is clear: it's tax breaks, capital gains rorts and negative gearing—not migrants—that are driving up house prices. How do we know? During the COVID lockdown, when net migration was negative, house prices went up by 20 per cent in just 18 months. It's time to get real. Bring a plan into this place that isn't handouts for developers or investors, that doesn't rely on putting people in horrifically large mortgages and that doesn't blame migrants for the greed of bankers and their political mates in this place. (Time expired)