Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to inform the chamber that Senator Storer will also sponsor the motion. I, and also on behalf of Senator Storer, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) will soon start to phase out this year after the Abbott Government made the decision to discontinue it in 2014,

  (ii) hundreds of dwellings will be dropping off the scheme in a matter of months, yet there has been no replacement scheme or extension to the NRAS announced by the Government, and

  (iii) many vulnerable people will be left unable to access affordable housing and could face homelessness; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to urgently commit to a replacement scheme or an extension of the NRAS.

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hundreds of homes have started to drop off the National Rental Affordability Scheme, NRAS, with the number of homes swelling to thousands next year. This means many vulnerable people, including families on low incomes, will be left without support and will face homelessness. We are facing a cliff in the housing crisis. Social housing hasn't increased since the turn of the century, despite the rise in homelessness and the rising numbers of those in housing stress. Rental support needs to continue. What we really need is a massive federal investment in building new social housing. It is well beyond time for the major parties to take the housing crisis seriously.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor is proud to have established the National Rental Affordability Scheme when last in government. NRAS has successfully increased the availability of affordable rental housing to low- and moderate-income households and is helping more than 63,000 Australians secure long-term rental housing. The scheme has reduced the proportion of NRAS households in rental stress by over 22 percentage points. The government's failure to offer alternative policy or to address the funding gap has exacerbated Australia's housing affordability and homelessness crisis. A Shorten Labor government will directly address the funding gap. In December Bill Shorten announced that a Labor government will improve housing supply and provide long-term affordable housing for low- and middle-income Australians through the construction of 250,000 new affordable homes. Building on the NRAS, Labor will drive residential construction activity through a secure, long-term pipeline of investment, scale up the capacity of the community housing sector, boost employment, and meaningfully address the profound shortage of affordable housing in Australia.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Housing is primarily the responsibility of the states and territories. However, the government understands how important the issue is and is doing its share of the heavy lifting. The government delivered a comprehensive housing affordability plan in the 2017-18 budget. It included providing more than $7.5 billion to the states and territories over the next five years through the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, which includes $620 million in indexed funding for homelessness services, which will be matched by the state governments.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The National Rental Affordability Scheme was introduced in 2008. It was going to solve the affordable housing problem by providing a total of 50,000 dwelling units around the country. By 2012, the Gillard government had seen the deficiency in the scheme and revised the 50,000 figure back to 35,000 dwellings. The plan was to provide financial incentives to invest in rental housing which would be affordable for low- and fixed-income families. In effect, the scheme provided an opportunistic incentive to construct low-cost blocks of small, one-bedroom units near student campuses for investors, many from overseas, to purchase and rent to domestic and international students. In the end, it has done little to meet the need for low-cost housing for low- and fixed-income people. One Nation believes that subsidies are better targeted directly to those who need it and not as costly incentives to developers and investors. The continuation of the scheme, which has done little to improve housing affordability for families and pensioners, cannot be supported.

Question agreed to.