CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Ms URQUHART (Braddon) (10:51): For most Australians, a home is more than just a roof over our heads; it is a place of safety, security and belonging. Yet, today, for many people across Australia, owning or even renting a home is difficult. The Albanese Labor government's housing policy aims to improve affordability and housing supply through a mix of direct construction, shared equity, tax reforms and renter protections.
Our Help to Buy Scheme is a shared equity scheme allowing eligible buyers to enter the market with as little as a two per cent deposit and the government covering a percentage of the property's purchase price: up to 40 per cent for new builds or 30 per cent for existing homes. Labor's five per cent deposit scheme abolishes income limits and participant caps under the government backed first home buyers guarantee, enabling Australians to buy with a five per cent deposit without needing lenders mortgage insurance.
For single parents with at least one dependent, a deposit of just two per cent is needed. We are committed to building 50,000 new homes by 2030, specifically ring-fenced for first home buyers and built in partnership with the states. A little over a week ago I turned the sod on 10 new homes under development in Devonport, and there are many more being built in my electorate of Braddon.
Five of these are to be affordable homes and five are for social housing. These types of initiatives provide much needed homes in the region. Then I visited a 48-unit social housing project in Ulverstone.
Alida, one of the residents, told me that it was a blessing to have a safe permanent home close to amenities, where she lives with her little dog. The impact of this crisis is felt right across our communities. Young Australians are delaying buying their first home.
Many essential workers, such as teachers, nurses and police officers, find it difficult to live close to where they work. This is why the Albanese Labor government funded two units at Emmerton Park, an aged-care facility in Smithton, which are now being used by aged-care workers who work on the site, which I visited recently. Housing should not be viewed simply as an investment.
It is a basic human need. Every Australian deserves access to safe, secure and affordable housing. Housing affordability is one of Australia's greatest challenges today.
That's why we are doing something about it. By increasing housing supply, supporting those in need and planning for future growth, we can create a country where everyone has the opportunity to find a place to call home, to ensure that we do have that roof over our head but we also have that place of safety, that place of security and that place of belonging.