Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

October 2025 saw the fastest increase in housing prices in more than two years. Coincidentally, October was also when Labor's five per cent deposit scheme kicked in. The latest global housing affordability index lists four Australian capital cities in its top 15 globally least affordable cities. They are Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Every weekend, property investors are outbidding hopeful first home owners because they have taxpayer perks helping them to do so; $181 billion in tax perks tips the scales massively in favour of property investors to buy homes and makes it harder for first home buyers to compete. Labor's five per cent home deposit scheme simply adds fuel to the fire by pushing up house prices even more. The proof is in—there's been a 1.1 per cent increase in prices in October alone, and that's after a 6 per cent increase already this year. The banks are loving the five per cent deposit policy though. Increased house prices and bigger debts mean they'll make even more profits off people's pain and their debt. They're already on track to make $30 billion in profits this financial year. Housing is a human right, and it should not be used as a vehicle for obscene wealth creation. The housing crisis is the biggest driver of inequality in this country, along with the climate crisis. Labor continues to tinker around the edges, but each piecemeal intervention only inflates house prices even further, locking even more people out of homeownership.

We need to tackle the root causes: end those $181 billion rorts that are negative gearing and capital gains tax; actually address supply with more public and affordable homes and establish a public property developer to build them; and freeze and cap rents. This is not an accident; this is by design.