Housing Australia Amendment (Accountability) Bill 2025

Senator COX (Western Australia) (09:17): Wow. Thank you, Senator Bragg, for that performance. I think, when Senator Bragg started his speech today on the second reading of this bill, he talked about assumption.

The Labor government are not here to run on assumption. We are here to provide certainty, and our housing policy does exactly that. We're going to give the Australian people the certainty that the coalition did not give while they had nine years of government.

I think it's pretty rich to be lectured by the opposition. Shockingly, Senator Bragg, during his contribution this morning, had time to make niggling nips at his former colleagues from when they were in the previous government. He talked about how they thought there's integrity in giving the minister all this unfettered power.

Wow. It's amazing that Senator Bragg can sit here and say that about his colleagues—because that is exactly what they're continuing to do. They're continuing to focus on themselves.

They're continuing to focus on each other, instead of worrying about the Australian people. That little display of, 'We're worried about the people,' wasn't actually real because he spent more time talking about his colleagues, when they were in government. They should never have made those changes to those bills.

The Australian people don't have a short memory. They do not have a short memory about who was blocking housing in this chamber. It was the teals and the 'no-alition' who ganged up together.

Senator Cadell: You voted that way! Senator Henderson: You voted against it! Senator COX: Yes, I had one vote—exactly!

I'll take your interjection. I came over to this party to deliver because of that. You're on the money, both of you.

Thank you, Senator Henderson and Senator Cadell. I'm over here to deliver now. You belled the cat.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Interjections are always disorderly. Responding to interjections tends to create more interjections, so let's continue with the second reading speech, Senator Cox.

Senator COX: Sometimes the truth hurts, Deputy President, and it cuts very deep in this chamber, does it not, especially when it's true. It's like trying to sneak your new romance in the back door, because your base is going to find out you all stood together in '28. Well, we can't wait for that to happen, because your sneaky little new squeeze in the 'no-alition' is continuing.

Senator Bragg's contribution also went to all the other things this chamber is working on. FOI—you know why? Because they didn't even have a housing minister in nine years of government.

Let's get to the bill, because that's actually what I'm on my feet for. I don't want to spend too much time giving rise to Senator Bragg. This bill is cynical.

It's dangerous. It's utterly self-serving. The bill would absolutely make it harder for first home buyers to get into the market, harder for working families to find secure housing and harder for our nation to build the homes that we desperately need.

I want to be really clear that what Senator Bragg and those opposite are really up to is not about accountability. It's not about transparency, and it's certainly not about oversight. This is about grubby politics—pure, opportunistic, obstructive politics.

Senator Henderson interjecting— Senator COX: As I've said, Senator Henderson— Senator Henderson interjecting— Senator COX: Thank you for those interjections. I'm sure the Deputy President will— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Cox, can I ask you to sit down?

Senator Henderson, interjections are always disorderly. Senator Cox, please do not respond to those opposite. All remarks go through the chair.

Senator Cox, you have the call. Senator COX: Thank you, Deputy President. Now— Senator Henderson interjecting— Senator COX: If she's going to keep continuing, I might as well give her the call.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson! Senator Cox, you have the call. Senator COX: Thank you, Deputy President.

As I said earlier in my contribution, the coalition that wrecked the housing policy for nearly a decade in this place now want to wreck it again. They want to take a massive sledgehammer to it. Once again, they're showing Australians that they've learned nothing from the 2025 election.

They lost an election because people were tired. They are tired, sick and tired, of delay and destruction. And here they are again, blocking and bulldozing a housing policy that's going to help everyday Australians across Australia, particularly in my home state of Western Australia.

I know, Deputy President, you're also a proud Western Australian. People are doing it tough. They're working hard.

They're doing everything right, and they still can't find a place to call home. Young people are lining up around the block for rental inspections. Families with kids, families who would have owned a home a generation ago, can't get a foothold in the market.

Parents are watching their adult children move back home because moving just absolutely seems out of reach for them. These aren't statistics. These are real people.

These are teachers and nurses and tradies and retail workers who keep our community going. They are the backbone of our suburbs. They are the people in our towns and our regions, and they deserve better than what the coalition is trying to dish up for them today.

In almost 10 years, they tapped out of the housing national challenge—absolutely tapped out. Senator Henderson: But you voted against it, Senator Cox, when you were a Green. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order!

Senator COX: Thank you, Deputy President. There was no national leadership—and I know that they don't want to hear this; that's why they keep interrupting—no plan and no investment to improve supply for almost nine years in office. They, again, didn't have a housing minister, and that tells you everything that you need to know about their politics—the politics that the coalition are willing to gamble and play with, with people's lives.

It's almost a decade, and what do they have to show for it? Senator Henderson interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson! Senator COX: Very little—373 social and affordable houses.

Let me say that again just for Senator Henderson—373 in a nation of 26 million people. Oh, my God—that you could come in this place with 373 homes that you built during your time! That's a contrast with what Labor are doing and Labor's commitment to deliver 55,000 social and affordable homes, the boldest housing program since the postwar reconstruction.

And, yet, despite this dismal record, the coalition now pretends to care about accountability. That's exactly what Senator Bragg came in here and talked about. Senator Henderson interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Henderson!

Senator COX: You might as well be in a debate with her, Deputy President. Senator Mulholland: You're holding an event with Drew Hutton; come on! The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order!

Senator COX: Is that right? Senator Henderson: He's a very sensible man. Senator Mulholland interjecting— Senator COX: Wow!

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: No. Order, Senator Henderson and Senator Mulholland! Having conversations across the chamber is not good Senate practice.

Senator COX: You need to pull her up. Senator Henderson interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson! Senator COX: Deputy President, ask her to leave if she can't be quiet.

Senator Henderson interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson! Senator Cox, you have the call. Senator COX: Yet, despite that dismal record, the coalition now pretend to care about accountability.

The same mob of sports rorts and secret ministers suddenly developed a passion for transparency. Give me a break! Give us all a break.

Now let's talk about Senator Bragg's so-called accountability bill and what it actually does. Under the Housing Australia Act 2018, the government issued investment mandate directions. These directions guided how programs like the Home Guarantee Scheme and the Housing Australia Future Fund facility operated.

They provide flexibility and certainty, the kind of certainty that investors, builders and homebuyers rely on. The bill that Senator Bragg brought to the Senate would make those directions disallowable—he talked in great length to us about those—and allow either chamber of the parliament to rip them up at any time. That would expose the five per cent home guarantee scheme, which has already helped more than 185,000 Australians to get their first home.

What a great figure, 185,000. That would endanger the upcoming Help to Buy program, which will help another 40,000 families. It would threaten the HAFF, the Housing Australia Future Fund, a cornerstone of our $43 billion housing agenda.

That's not oversight. That's sabotage. That's taking a sledgehammer to all of that.

What would that mean for real people? It would mean tens of thousands of Australians who have been saving for their first home would have their dreams snatched away from them. I know that that would also mean that first home buyers would need bigger deposits and would be waiting longer and paying more, each of them forced to fork out an extra $23,000 on average on lenders and mortgage insurance.

This would also mean that social and affordable housing projects that are under construction right now would also be delayed. Without Commonwealth support, community housing providers would have to stop work on their new builds altogether. This is a real-world impact of this bill—fewer homes, less certainty and absolutely higher costs.

We've seen this behaviour before. We feel like we're having deja vu. For months, as I said, they blocked the build to rent program, and they tried to scrap it.

For months they blocked the HAFF, and then they promised to abolish it. That was your election promise. Even then, they were opposed to the Help to Buy program before it even began.

If the opposition gets a final say on our five per cent deposit scheme, we all know what they'll do. They've told us time and time again. They'll just tear it up.

Australians know they can't trust the coalition when it comes to housing. While the coalition play politics, Labor is delivering a plan—a serious, fully funded, long-term plan. We have an ambitious $43 billion housing agenda that is already making a difference across the country.

We've already taken the Commonwealth from being a negligent bystander under the coalition to being the boldest and most ambitious government on housing since the postwar period. Under our prime minister, Anthony Albanese, we are tackling the housing crisis from every angle. We are backing homebuyers.

We are making it easier to buy a home of your own. We took a bold plan to the election, five per cent deposits for all first home buyers, and we delivered on that plan months ahead of schedule, launching it on 1 October. Thanks to Labor's five per cent deposits, first home buyers are cutting years off the time it takes to save for their home deposit.

Instead of spending 10 or 11 years trying to save enough to buy a first home, it now only takes a few years. This is life changing. Soon the Help to Buy program will help low- and middle-income earners into homes with smaller deposits and smaller mortgages.

We are partnering with states and territories to build 100,000 new homes reserved for first home buyers—homes that can't be snapped up by investors before families get a chance. We also know there's no single silver bullet for the housing crisis, but building more homes will ease the pressure for everyone, for renters and for buyers alike. That's why we're supporting the construction of 1.2 million homes nationwide.

We're training more tradies, cutting red tape and investing in the infrastructure that's needed to unlock supply. Through our housing future fund, we are delivering 55,000 social and affordable homes for people who do vital work—as I said, our nurses, teachers and aged-care workers. People should be able to live near where they work.

As I said, under the coalition, the magic number was 373. Under Labor, it will be 55,000. That's the difference between neglect and nation building.

The opposition say, 'Why not let the parliament have oversight?' Well, that's exactly how this opposition works. Give them a lever, and they will pull it to block progress. They've got form.

For years, they were blocking, delaying, bulldozing every housing initiative that was put before them. This is not about oversight; this is about control. This is about giving themselves power to tear down the government's agenda.

They are trying to do it now by stealth. Senator Henderson interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Marielle Smith ): Senator Henderson, I've called you to order. Senator COX: It's not about oversight; it's about control.

It is about the lever they are trying to pull to pull down our housing agenda by stealth. The truth is that these investment mandates are administrative tools, not political playthings. Housing Australia needs stability to keep investors and builders on board.

Constant political interference would spook the market and absolutely slow construction. Even the Senate's own scrutiny committees have recognised that these instruments must remain non-disallowable when financial certainty and investor confidence are at stake. If Senator Bragg's bill passes, that stability absolutely goes out the window.

To those who claim that Labor's five per cent deposits are driving up prices, Treasury has been very clear that the impact is very modest, at about half of one per cent over six years. The biggest driver of housing costs has always been supply, and that is exactly why the majority of the $43 billion in our plan is focused on building more homes, not just helping people to buy them.

We are restoring the Commonwealth's role as an active partner in housing, not a passive observer. We are delivering more homes, better rental security and a fairer shot at ownership, That's what our government is doing by putting the shoulder to the wheel while those opposite are standing in the way and shouting slogans.