Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I recently met with Sebastian, a remarkable 13-year-old young South Australian. He has crunched the numbers for himself and his generation and worked out that he won't own a home—it will be worth millions of dollars as he approaches home ownership, and he won't get there until he is well into his 40s. It is going to cost him an enormous amount of money, and he has spelt out what that crisis means for him and his generation. I was very proud this week to table Sebastian's Change.org petition on Tuesday, which was signed by more than 20,000 people in just two months prior to this budget.

We know what Seb's generation face in a massive housing crisis. Seb, what can I tell you out of this budget to give you some comfort? All too little. Labor had the chance to scrap the massive tax breaks that go to wealthy property investors in this budget, and they squibbed it. They took a tiny baby step in the right direction, but they have failed to shut down the tax breaks which deliver billions of dollars to wealthy property investors across our country—older, wealthier people who force up prices of housing all around our country. It means it's not just you, Seb, and your generation, who are going to struggle to get into housing, but all the people out there right now—Gen X, Gen Y, millennials. They cannot get the housing they need. Many of them are struggling with runaway rents, facing the prospect of homelessness. Homelessness is growing by 10 per cent under this Labor government.

In the midst of a housing crisis, what we saw in this budget was preservation of great wealth through tax benefits for people who own 10, 20, 40 or 50 wealthy property investments, which mean they are locking out those young people like those in Seb's generation. It was a chance for Labor to do something meaningful and they missed it. They missed it in ways that will guarantee benefits for very wealthy people. It will bake in those benefits for decades ahead. I'm sorry, Seb. Thanks for your petition.