MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Senator BLYTH (South Australia) (18:31): Well, that's an extraordinary contribution from Labor over there, when their own Treasury documents tell them that they will actually build 35,000 fewer homes for Australians with these measures. Labor has broken yet another promise to the Australian people. The Prime Minister said he would not do a deal with the Greens, and now Labor are ramming through a dirty budget deal with the Greens to pass one of the most deceptive budgets in our nation's history.
This government is a failure. Labor has not only failed to be honest about their budget but failed to manage migration, failed to deliver housing supply and failed young Australians and families who are working hard and trying to buy a home. Everywhere I go, I am being told the same thing.
People feel that this government has let them down. Parents are worried that their children will never be able to move out of home. I have three children, and I feel as though they are going to be living with me forever.
Young Australians are working, they're saving, they're doing everything they can, but that dream of owning their own home is slipping further and further away and is almost completely out of touch with Labor's latest budget. The Australian dream of owning a home that I got to experience and that my parents got to experience is not something that this generation of young Australians will ever have.
Even a basic unit is now unaffordable for many young people who would once have seen that as their first step into the market. That is the reality of living under this terrible Labor government who, for those who want to live near where they grew up, the dream of homeownership is entirely dead because this government is saying the only homes that you can go and buy will be brand new builds.
Where are brand new builds happening? They're happening in outer suburbs, a long way away from where these young people have grown up. So it's saying that, if you want to own a home, you can live a long way away from your family, your friends and the community that you've grown up with.
Labor keeps saying that the overseas net migration numbers are coming down, but 301,000 migrants came to Australia to December 2025. How many homes did we build in that time? Not 301,000.
Labor keep telling us that the numbers are coming down, but it's fair to say that that is not showing in the housing market. You tell that to the families that are lining up to get a rental. You tell that to the young couple that are going to an auction to bid on their first home.
Under Labor, about 1.6 million people have come to Australia, while only about 600,000 homes have been built. The problem is right in front of them, and they will continue to ignore it. There are not enough homes, prices have risen beyond control and young Australians are again being pushed to the back of the queue.
It's fair to say that the median house price in Australia has reached records that I never thought that I would see in my lifetime. But it's okay because, for the Prime Minister and his cabinet, they already own their homes, so they're laughing at the capital gains that they're making. But how's that for the young Australians that are just trying to get in?
Labor promised that they would deliver 1.2 million homes by June 2029. That's their own target that they set, and they are nowhere near it. Labor is not building at the pace that is required, and the government is more than 100,000 homes short of where it needs to be.
Australia now needs about 270,000 homes built each year by mid-2029 to meet Labor's own target. If that's a test, Labor are failing at their own test. The question for the Prime Minister is simple.
If he's going to bring more people into the country than the number of homes being built, where are those people supposed to live? Labor promised homes, and they've not delivered anything like the homes that Australians need. Labor promised no new taxes.
Labor promised not to negotiate with the Greens. Labor has lied to the Australian people, and the dirty deal with the Greens is the latest of a long list of Labor lies. The coalition will fight this bad Labor government and its dirty deals with the Greens.
We will fight for lower migration that matches our housing capacity, more homes, faster approvals and a housing market where young Australians who work hard still have a chance to own one. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Colbeck ): The time for the discussion has expired.