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

Australians woke up this week to another interest rate rise, and they know exactly what that means for their wallets. Mortgage holders are being pushed closer to the edge, and renters are next in line as landlords pass on the pain. Families are already making impossible choices—rent or groceries, child care or health care—just to keep a roof over their heads.

Then we learnt that Labor are selling off public Defence land, including Victoria Barracks, to patch up the budget that they've blown. Public land that could help ease the housing crisis is to be sold off instead of used for public housing. It'll be handed to private developers while more public housing towers face demolition in my state. You are ripping the public off, and, honestly, can anyone still be surprised?

This is a government that hands out tax breaks willy-nilly to wealthy property investors that inflate house prices and lock renters out of ownership. It's a government that takes donations from gas giants while energy prices soar and that subsidises fossil fuel companies and then claims that there's no money left for housing. There are billions for submarines that may never arrive, but nurses, teachers and early educators can't afford to live where they work. There are millions for multinational consultants, but there's no budget for public housing, schools or community safety. Let's be clear. The money exists, and this is about priorities.

Australians aren't locked out of homes because they are poor; they're locked out because this government keeps heading public wealth to the corporations driving the crisis. People have every right to be angry—and they are. They are being priced out of housing, squeezed on energy and told to tighten their belts while others cash in.

The Greens will keep fighting for homes that people can actually afford, for lower bills and for a government that puts communities before corporations.