DOCUMENTS

Senator DARMANIN (Victoria—Deputy Government Whip in the Senate) (11:04): What a start to the week we've had. In addition to some of the comments made by Senator Ayres about the antics that we've seen this morning already, we are now seeing an abuse of one of the Senate's most serious powers to continue to seek compliance on the production of documents—documents which have already been provided—particularly by grouping together two unrelated orders.

Senator Kovacic just then talked about what this government cares about and what it doesn't care about. I'll tell you what we do care about: we care about getting young people into affordable housing. That is what we care about on this side of the chamber, and we know that Australians don't want us to be playing politics over getting people into housing.

We on this side of the Senate know that housing is one of the defining issues facing Australians today. The housing pressures facing Australians, however, didn't emerge overnight. There is no single solution, and there is no single quick fix unfortunately.

On this side we know this and we, rather than playing politics, have simply been trying to get on with the job of getting people into housing, of building housing, of taking a comprehensive approach to tackling the housing challenge. That is what we have been doing on this side of the chamber—not playing politics but getting on with the job. Since coming to office, the Albanese Labor government has transformed the role of the Commonwealth in housing from that of a passive observer by introducing the most ambitious national housing agenda that we have seen since the postwar era.

We've commenced the largest housing build in Australia's history, with the goal of building 1.2 million homes, including 55,000 new social and affordable homes for Australians who need them most. But increasing supply is, as we know, only one part of the solution. We are also making homeownership more accessible.

Since coming to office, more than 260,000 Australians have purchased their first home through the government's five per cent deposit scheme, allowing eligible buyers to purchase their home with a five per cent deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance. That's taking action. That's delivering real action on housing for Australians.

For many Australians, the five per cent deposit scheme means years off the time required to save for a deposit while saving tens of thousands of dollars in lenders mortgage insurance. We're getting on with the job, not talking about it, not blocking it, not delaying it. We've also launched Help to Buy, our shared equity scheme, enabling eligible Australians to purchase a home with as little as a two per cent deposit and a smaller mortgage.

And, just last week, as we know, the parliament passed our housing tax reform package, and these reforms have three clear objectives—first, to create a balance between the taxation of income earned through work and income gained through capital gains; second, to help more Australians achieve homeownership; and, third, to improve productivity by directing investment towards more productive uses across the economy.

We are focused on action, not playing politics. Negative gearing for residential property will, from 2027-28, be limited to newly built homes, encouraging investment where Australia is needing it most: more housing supply. The current 50 per cent capital gains tax discount will also be replaced by an inflation discount, from 1 July 2027, ensuring that tax concessions apply to genuine capital gains rather than inflationary increases.

These reforms are expected to help around 75,000 additional first home buyers enter the market over the next decade. That will also help fund further tax relief for working Australians. Alongside these reforms, we are investing a further $2 billion in enabling infrastructure, accelerating planning approvals, reducing red tape, expanding the skilled construction workforce and extending the ban on foreign investors purchasing existing homes until mid-2029.

All of these things are about action. They're not about playing politics. They are about delivering for Australians who need housing.

It's a comprehensive housing agenda addressing supply, addressing affordability, addressing homeownership and rental pressures simultaneously. The contrast we've just seen this morning could not be clearer. Their policy solution to supply is 'let's block and delay'.

They opposed the Housing Australia Future Fund and promised to abolish it altogether. They delayed the Help to Buy program, delaying assistance for up to 40,000 Australians looking to get into homeownership. They opposed our build-to-rent reforms and have now proposed scrapping the tax incentives that would support around 80,000 additional rental homes.

That is what action looks like on this side compared to what we see on that side—delay, delay and block.