Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for the question, Senator Bell. We have actually banned foreign buyers from buying existing homes, and we have a number of other responses in relation to immigration and ownership of housing, or foreign ownership of housing, that the relevant ministers are managing right now. Every time this issue is raised at estimates—and it has been raised by Senator Roberts and others—the explanation, advice and evidence from Treasury is that this is something they watch carefully and closely and that there are, as you say, rules around it and that it forms a very, very small part of the overall homeownership arrangements in this country. I can't verify the data or the information you've used in your question, but my advice is that foreign investors make up 0.8 per cent of new and established dwellings purchased transactions in the last data I have, which is in the 2023-24 year. If you look at numbers, that is just over 4,000 transactions out of a total of 538,861 transactions. That is the advice from the ATO. If there is anything further I can provide in relation to the substance of your question, I will endeavour to do so.