Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Interest rates have gone up today, and for millions of people that means another hit that they simply cannot absorb. If you're sitting at home wondering how much more you're expected to cop, you're not alone. Sixty per cent of Australians are in housing stress, forced to spend more than a third of their income on housing. That is not a temporary aberration. That is a full-blown crisis. I want to talk about what that crisis looks like in real life.

Kai is in their early 30s. They did everything they were told to do. They spent their 20s working, renting and paying off their HECS debt, which is something that now takes the average person 10 full years to repay. Over that time, Kai's rent has gone up and then up again, and then up again. There are no real protections, no limits and no security. Their landlord owns five properties and can raise the rent whenever they want, and Kai just has to cop it. Buying a home feels completely out of reach.

In Australia, it is easier to buy your fifth investment property than your first home. If Kai does manage to save and get a mortgage, on average, the bank will profit more than $200,000 from Kai's home loan. Australia's banks are among the most profitable corporations in the world. Over the last decade, rents have increased by 48 per cent across our capital cities. Food is up 43 per cent; electricity is up 44 per cent. So what does all of this mean for Kai? Kai is now $52,000 worse off than they were 10 years ago, despite working harder, paying more and doing everything right.

In the face of all this, what has Kai seen from a Labor government that is now in its fourth year? They've seen talk, platitudes and policies that have made this even worse. The coalition created many of these problems by doing nothing, but Labor's approach has been smoke and mirrors—announcements designed to sound good while leaving the underlying system untouched or, worse, actively reinforcing it. Is it any wonder people feel powerless? In this country, we're promised that, if we work hard, we set up our futures and we get ahead. But, right now, for so many people, that contract feels broken.

So let's be clear about choices. Instead of spending upwards of $368 billion on submarines, Labor could build thousands of public homes, or they could wipe student debt. Instead of handing out $180 billion in tax concessions to property investors, Labor could give the seven million renters in this country—people like Kai—a fair go, with real protections and secure homes. By making big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share, Labor could lift income support above the poverty line and abolish the partner income test, or they could lower the age of the parental income test to 18. Instead of refusing to tax extreme wealth, Labor could act.

Just one year of the average increase in Australian billionaires wealth equals the annual incomes of more than 2,000 Australians. These are choices. Labor has been in government for four years, and people like Kai are still falling further behind. The question is simple: will Labor continue to prioritise property investors, billionaires and big corporations, or will they finally choose Australians like Kai? Because the Greens do, and we will keep fighting until this country works for everyone—not just the ultra-wealthy few.