Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The biggest issue facing young Australians is housing. The Reserve Bank's decision to increase interest rates because of the Labor government's loose budget policy has meant that housing is going to be so much harder for younger Australians. It's going to be harder for young Australians to get a first home and harder for young Australians to stay in a home. We have seen a very callous response from the Labor Party in response to the huge number of increases to interest rates from the central bank. Labor wants to wash its hands of this issue, but the reality is that the Australian people are going to be looking for solutions to this very acute housing problem.

What we need to see is serious ideas and options to improve supply of housing. We need to see actions from the government to smash down on nimbyism and we need to see movement from the government to construct more houses beyond their centrepiece boondoggle of the Housing Australia Future Fund, which is more about trying to feather the nests of the vested interests of the super funds, as we've seen with Mr Wayne Swan—who's the president of a major super fund and the Labor Party simultaneously—finding a tax break applicable only to super funds who want to build more houses and then lease them back to the Australian people. We are much more interested in seeing people own their own houses, which is why supply and policies to drive supply are so important. But it's important that we help on the demand side, and that's why letting people use their super is a very good idea, but, again, it's not on the table, because Labor is run by the vested interests of the trade unions and the industry super funds.