ADJOURNMENT

Mr BOYCE (Flynn) (19:40): I rise to speak on an issue that is affecting every community in the electorate of Flynn, and that is the lack of housing. The vacancy rate in Central Queensland is sitting at just 0.5 per cent. Parts of North Burnett and South Burnett are sitting at 0.1 per cent.

This is having an effect on attracting skilled workers to the regions. Rents are rising for families, pensioners and the disabled, and opportunities for young Australians to purchase new homes are getting much more difficult. But don't just take my word for it.

A report released by Master Builders Australia in November 2024 found the following results from a nationwide survey. One in four people say housing is the most important issue for them. This is up from eight per cent in November 2023.

Ninety per cent say it is difficult to afford to buy or rent a property in Australia. Two out of every three say the federal government is most responsible for addressing the housing crisis. Seventy per cent are of a view that the federal government has not done enough to address the housing issue.

Eighty-five per cent agree there is a shortage of housing in Australia. Seven in 10 say the housing crisis is damaging the quality of their life in their communities. Seven in 10 say the housing crisis has gotten worse over the last 12 months.

Sixty-eight per cent of renters who want to buy a home fear they won't achieve it within the next five years. Thirty-nine per cent have struggled to pay their rent or mortgage in the last 12 months. While there is no silver bullet to alleviate the housing crisis, the simple fact is that supply is not keeping up with demand.

While the Labor government has set an ambitious goal of 1.2 million homes in five years, recent data has shown that not one state achieved the first-year target for housing completions, with my home state of Queensland falling six per cent short of the 20 per cent target. The building trends in general across the country also seem to be going backwards. The latest release of building activity in Australia, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, has provided the following key statistics for the last quarter.

The total number of dwelling units commenced fell 4.4 per cent to 45,156 dwellings. New private sector house commencements fell 6.6 per cent to 26,074 dwellings. The value of total building work done fell 0.3 of a per cent to $38.9 billion.

For 3½ years, Labor has been building bureaucracies and not homes. Labor's housing ideas are costing taxpayers $60 billion, yet they are building fewer homes than the former government. There is not one single factor that is contributing to the housing crisis.

Reasons include labour and material shortages, red tape and restrictive planning, zoning laws and, of course, the government's policies. However, one issue that the Labor government refuses to acknowledge is contributing to the housing crisis is the level of immigration into this country. Australia welcomed 380,000 net permanent and long-term arrivals over the first eight months of 2025—the highest volume for this period of a year ever recorded.

That is just the first eight months of this year! Meanwhile, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, just over 150,000 new homes were built in this country during the 2023-24 financial year. Figures from the ABS also reveal over 2.5 million immigrants came to Australia over the last five years, with 667,000 immigrants coming to Australia in 2023-24 alone.

While it is fundamental that we attract skilled immigration to this country, why are unsustainable immigration levels not being addressed or even reviewed by this government? Since the year 2000, it is estimated that Australia's immigrant population has more than doubled—103 per cent—while the number of housing units has increased only 54 per cent. There is no doubt that all levels of government must come together to alleviate the housing crisis.

Local and state governments can do their bit by unlocking more land, cutting regulation and encouraging investment. The federal government must do its bit by immediately reducing immigration to levels that are sustainable for our future.