QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
Senator CADELL (New South Wales—Nationals Whip in the Senate) (15:19): The question today specifically around housing was quite an interesting one. While we hear lots of diversions and lots of thoughts about everything else going on in the country, let's talk about housing. The ANZ has predicted a 10.6 per cent drop, peak to trough, in housing values.
To put that into some perspective, if you take the value of housing across Australia to be worth over $12 trillion, what this government is overseeing is the loss of almost $1.3 trillion in the wealth of Australians. Everyone says: 'What's $1 trillion? I don't know what a trillion dollars is.
What does it buy? What does it do?' Let me put it this way: every single Australian, from the newborn to those taking their last breath—everyone—will be $48,000 poorer because of these policies. And they say this is a good thing.
The single best— Senator Cox: Not true! Senator CADELL: We hear 'Not true!' from the other side. We have the ANZ bank coming out and saying it's 10.6 per cent nationwide.
In Sydney, in my home state—I'm from the Hunter—it's 14.5 per cent; it's even worse there. We have just wee'd away $1.3 trillion of Australian wealth because a government thought it was a good idea. What a great idea!
Let's just throw $48,000 per person in the garbage and say, 'Oh, but that's going to make first-home buyers.' They talk about the things they've done, such as a five per cent deposit for a new home buyer. Now, I know those over on the other side are not great with numbers, but if I put a five per cent deposit down— Senator Cox interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Cox, you were heard in silence.
Senator CADELL: If I put a five per cent deposit down and my property goes back 10.6 per cent, I'm 5.6 per cent underwater on my debt. I owe the bank more money than the property is worth by five per cent. That is what is happening here.
We never want to look at what actually happens; we want to talk about the spin and all of these things we're going through. We talk about the budget papers that say there will be a modest increase of $2 per year on rent. It's more like $2 per day on rent.
With the way things are going, there are rent increases of $100 or $150 per week. This is what matters. That is what actually happens to the people around Australia.
We talked about the loan numbers coming out. For Westpac, there was a 20 per cent drop in loan applications. We're talking about NAB's 15 per cent drop in loan applications and the statement that they were only propped up by self-managed super funds getting in to beat these challenges.
That was what was propping it up. You're seeing a collapse in the wealth of Australians who are getting to the end of their careers and have paid their taxes, paid their mortgages and done everything right. And what do we do?
We strip wealth from them at the time they need it. When the No. 1 determinant of a healthy retirement is owning your own property, we are taking away that wealth because of decisions of this government. And not only is there the attack on elderly Australians; let's get rid of the seniors health insurance rebate too.
They've realised quickly that they've run out of their own money, the normal money; let's go after the money of the people who have done the right thing by Australia—they've got more because they've lived longer, they've earned more and they've done more. Those are the true facts of this government—if you've got it, we want it. We are becoming more socialist by the day.
But we don't care about how we spend it; we just care about how we can get it. So not only are we taxing the money you've got, doing all these things and spending it everywhere; we are now throwing away the value you put in your housing, and $48,000 per person will be the result of a 10.6 per cent drop peak to trough. Imagine an average household of three people.
It means $150,000 will be thrown away over two years because this government can't manage housing and can't manage the economy. This government needs to be changed. Question agreed to.