Lisa Darmanin (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting this bill, the Housing Australia Amendment (Accountability) Bill 2025, because the government is in the business of helping first home buyers buy their own homes. The government is in the business of delivering social and affordable housing. The government is in the business of building more homes and giving renters a fair go. The government is not in the business of holding up housing. Unlike those opposite, who have continually voted to stop young Australians from accessing secure affordable housing and who are now, instead of real policy, doubling down with obstruction dressed up as accountability.

Let's be absolutely clear what this bill is actually about and what it proposes to do, because the consequences are really serious and can be catastrophic for those who are seeking a home. The Housing Australia Amendment (Accountability) Bill 2025 would once again give those opposite the opportunity to block real progress on housing. If this bill were to pass, it would open the door for the Senate to disallow key housing programs that Australians are already relying on. That includes the home guarantee scheme, a scheme that has already helped more than 185,000 Australians into homeownership since Labor came into government—gone. It would allow the opposition to scrap Labor's help-to-buy scheme, which is designed to help another 40,000 Australians buy their first home. That would be gone. It would allow them to dismantle the Housing Australia Future Fund, one of the cornerstone programs delivering on our commitment to build 55,000 social and affordable homes across the country—gone.

Now let's talk about what this means in real terms for actual families and for first home buyers. It would mean tens of thousands of first home buyers finding it harder to buy their own home, because they would need to save significantly larger deposits. It means that every first home buyer would be forced to fork out an average of $23,000 in lenders mortgage insurance just to get a foot in the door. Saving for a full deposit or saving for a deposit plus mortgage lenders insurance can take first home buyers a decade, which is why our reforms have sought to intervene in this process to make it easier for these people. It's demoralising and it feels out of reach for so many. That is what this government is actually addressing.

This bill before you would mean social and affordable housing projects that are already under construction would be delayed, forcing more Australians to wait even longer for secure housing when they are already under pressure—and we know we are facing a housing crisis. Without Commonwealth support to help community housing providers close the funding gap, the construction of thousands of social and affordable homes would simply stop. That is the reality of this bill. It does not build homes, it does not help renters and it does not support first home buyers. It would be a disaster.

Clearly, those opposite haven't listened and they haven't learned any lessons from last year's election. The Australian community were pretty clear. They voted for an ambitious housing agenda. They voted for a party with a plan. Those opposite didn't have a plan ahead of the election, and they don't have one now. They're blocking and bulldozing. Senator Bragg thinks it's the Liberals' greatest-hits album. Well, the voters put this tired old track in the reject bin at JB Hi-Fi, and that's where it is going to stay. It's got all of the noise of a construction site but no houses at the end of the track.

Our government has no illusions about the challenges that many Australians from all walks of life are having in accessing a house—renters, young people, families, older women—and it can't go on. This is a life-defining challenge for many Australians, and it is a generation-defining challenge for this country. If those supporting this bill in the chamber think it will get Aussies into more homes, they really need to get real. The reason why we are in this position today is that the coalition government tapped out of housing altogether. They didn't lock in, and now Australians are locked out.

When people say 2026 is just 2016 again, they're talking about 'Lush Life' by Zara Larsson, and Snapchat filters. They are not talking about the utter void of housing policy presented by the coalition government at the time. Now it seems those opposite are not satisfied with sitting on their hands for a decade. Now they're on the opposition benches they have found the strength and willpower to do something about housing, but that something is bills like this one—bills that try to slow down our housing build and stop young Australians from buying their first home. They want to scrap Help to Buy. They want to scrap the Home Guarantee Scheme.

I know that many people out there in our community are sitting on their couches tonight and every night with Domain and real estate ads open, planning what inspections they'll go to on the weekend. They're looking at the price ranges and deciding which houses they've got a fighting chance of buying on auction day. The housing policies of our government are what get them to those Saturday auctions and inspections and help them to find their very first home of their own. And so they should. We want to find first homes for our Australians.

The last thing that young Australians need when they are planning those inspections is to hear that Senator Bragg and those opposite don't want them at those inspections. Those opposite want to see young people like them stuck in dodgy rentals instead of a home that they can call their own. Those opposite want to see families with young kids continue to live with their parents as they desperately try to scrape together a deposit for a house. The only brags that I'm interested in are the humble brags shared on Instagram by happy homebuyers in front of a 'for sale' sign.

The bill keeps those Australians in limbo, and our government wants no part of that. We can't ignore the generational dimensions of this crisis. A generation ago, families could reasonably expect that hard work and saving would result in a home of their own. Today that expectation is not a reality for some. Young Australians are being forced to delay milestones that previous generations took for granted, like starting families, investing in their futures and building equity. This isn't just about bricks and mortar; it's about opportunity, security and fairness. When the doors to homeownership close on a generation, the consequences ripple across every aspect of their lives and across the life of this nation.

These are the same tactics those opposite used in the last term, and make no mistake: it held us back. If not for those tactics, we would have seen more social housing built by now. If not for those tactics, we'd see more first home buyers in their own homes right now. They may as well just be honest with those who are counting on the housing policies of this government. They might as well tell them that they have no problem playing politics with the housing crisis. They are happy to let these programs disappear into the ether, and they don't care about putting an alternative on the table that is going to work for those who need it most. They think that playing SimCity with this is the issue.

We are talking about getting real people who want real homes into those homes, and it is well and truly time that we just got on with it. We want to get on with it, and we are getting on with it. That's why we funded and legislated the programs that get people into homes. It's this agenda that is worth $45 billion. It's an agenda that is the most ambitious of any Commonwealth government in the post-war period. It's an agenda that helps first home buyers into a home of their own by helping them with a five per cent deposit. We took that plan to the election, and I reckon people agreed with that plan. I reckon people just want us to get on with it—an agenda that builds more homes.

Housing supply also has a phenomenal impact on the price of housing in this country. If we want to improve housing affordability in this country, the answer is simple: we need to build more houses. So we're building 1.2 million more. We're cutting red tape, we're training more tradies and we're building the infrastructure that is crucial if we want to hit that goal. It's an agenda that delivers 55,000 social and affordable homes, and these homes are important. I think about the essential workers—teachers, nurses, early childhood educators, social workers—that our communities desperately need. These are hardworking people who serve our community. They are doing everything right, counting every penny, and still can't afford to buy. They can't afford to buy the security that homeownership provides in the places where they want to live and in the communities that they serve.

Through no fault of their own, these essential workers can't afford to live near where they work, and that is just not on. Those opposite want us to hold all of these new social and affordable homes and the people who want to buy them hostage. It is out of step with what the community needs, and it is out of step with what the community wants. Those homes are not just bricks and mortar, as I said; they provide stability, they provide safety and they provide dignity. The schemes that get Australians into those homes are a lifeline. Five per cent deposits free young people from the cycle of renting and waiting as they try to climb the mountain to save for a deposit. Families can plan their futures, and they can gain stability in the communities where they work and where they live. Getting those people into homes is our focus, not playing political games.

Let's not forget that, at last year's election, those opposite promised that they'd cut the number of homes being built. They promised that they'd scrap our Housing Australia Future Fund and the tens of thousands of social and affordable homes that it enables. They promised to increase taxes on new, affordable rentals. They promised that they'd dump this government's national housing target of 1.2 million new homes, so we know exactly what the opposition stands for when it comes to housing. They have been completely transparent about what they think about first home buyers. It's par for the course when you remember that the coalition built only 373 social and affordable homes over the decade that they were in government.

But let us remember: they brought those promises to the election, just as this government did. The voters have spoken, and their voices were heard loud and clear. They rejected the politics of obstruction and embraced a plan of construction. Being elected to this place to represent our communities is a privilege, and the role of those of us with that privilege is to listen to the voters. They never get it wrong. I have said it before, and I will say it again: the voters have asked us to stop playing politics with this issue and just get on with the job. The voters have rejected the housing policies those opposite brought to the last election. This bill suggests that those opposite are in denial about that, and it's condescending to the people of Australia, quite frankly.

Already in this new parliament, they've tried to bulldoze 80,000 new rental homes. Now they're trying to rip up Labor's five per cent deposit for all first home buyers. It's really quite bewildering that they think that this is an appropriate course of action. As I've already outlined, the consequences of this are real. If the bill passes, tens of thousands of first home buyers will need larger deposits, every first home buyer will be forced to pay on average an additional $23,000 in mortgage insurance, and the social and affordable housing projects that are under construction right now will be delayed. That is the reality of this bill. It does not build homes, it does not help renters and it does not support families. It puts roadblocks where there should be doors.

This government is building homes. Those opposite are continuing to build the roadblocks. If those opposite were serious about addressing the housing crisis in this country and were ready to start listening to voters, they would stop playing these political games. Housing is this generation's defining issue, and I hope that none of us here in this place look back upon this generation and know that we could have done more and regret that we did not.