Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Community Services, Senator Scullion. Will the minister inform the Senate of programs which the Howard government has implemented to assist renters in the private market? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his maiden question in this place, and an excellent question it was, too. I listened with great care to his wonderful contribution in this place yesterday, and I think he will make a great contribution in this place. The notion of rental is a notion that everybody experiences somewhere between when they leave home and start off on the great journey—the vision of owning your own home. This government is absolutely committed to assisting renters. Direct rental assistance has provided $2.37 billion in this financial year. To put that in context, it helps around one million families a fortnight. The coalition government is committed to continuing to champion policies which make a real difference to Australians.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They like to gibber and laugh on the other side there. But I tell you what we will not do: we will not behave like those on the other side do. We will not come up with false policies and raise false hopes. We certainly will not go and sit down in Canberra with a woman and say, as Mr Rudd said, ‘If you accept my policy then you will actually get $50 a month off the rent.’ The woman said: ‘That sounds like a pretty good deal. If I accept his policy and vote for Rudd then I will get $50 a month off the rent.’ Great stuff: the camera is clicking and Rudd walks.

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Minister, you must refer to people by their proper names.

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After the cameras have gone, we then find out that Mr Rudd had misled the individual. If she voted for him and Labor came to the Treasury bench, she would not in fact receive $50 a month. She would actually have to move out of the current home—probably into a more expensive home, because it is actually being constructed—before she would be able to receive the $50. It is so disingenuous to give people false hopes with flawed policies. That is certainly not something we would do.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You don’t give them much hope at all!

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate interjects, but I can tell him that the Australian public have every right to be afraid, because those on the other side do not have the smarts. Have a look at them. They do not have the smarts to run a trillion-dollar economy. I am not the only one that has made that assessment; that was the assessment made in a report prepared for the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry—the Econtech report. So what does that independent arbiter say? If you elect Rudd, you will get the Rudd factor. They say that house prices will rise by three per cent if we abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission—and on a $300,000 house that is $10,000; interest rates will rise by 1.4 per cent; and 316 jobs will be lost if workplace reforms are rolled back. So the promise of those opposite—the promise of Mr Rudd’s alternative government—is to ensure that 316 jobs will be lost. And it is very difficult to pay off a mortgage if you do not have a job. So the message is very simple: Australia’s renters and homebuyers cannot trust Rudd.