QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Ms O'NEIL (Hotham—Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities) (14:10): The member for Casey asked me about the impact of the landmark housing tax reforms that our government has undertaken on our housing market in this country. We have made very significant changes to housing taxation in this country, and we've done that because we recognise that homeownership is the most important aspiration of most Australian families.
What the member for Casey has left out of his question is the fact that these changes will lead to a reversal of 10 years of decline in the homeownership rate in our country. There are 750,00 households, who are today stuck in a rent trap, are going to get access to their own home because of these policies. Isn't it just so fascinating that those opposite have taken the first question of this question time today, when we have the young leaders of our country gathered up there in the gallery— The SPEAKER: The minister will pause and just resume her seat.
The manager, on a point of order? Mr Tehan: It goes to relevance, Mr Speaker. On 27 March 2024, you said: The minister was asked a specific question.
She is not entitled to then start talking about broad portfolio issues. She will need to keep her answer efficient to the question. It's got nothing to do with the opposition; it's to do with negative equity.
She's not even listening. Honourable members interjecting— The SPEAKER: Order! The manager has raised his point of order.
The minister was asked a fairly specific question about one area and her own electorate, so she's going to have to make the answer relevant to the question that she was asked. The manager is correct: she wasn't asked about opposition policy. To be fair to the minister, she hasn't gone into opposition policy; she was talking about the question she was asked.
So it was a bit of a jump there before, because she was just saying that she was asked about it, and that's when you took the point of order. The point of order on relevance is taken. She won't be able to talk about opposition policy.
If she does, I'll sit her down and we'll move to the next question. Ms O'NEIL: I was asked about house prices in my electorate and around Australia. I say again to those opposite speaker: when are they going to stop and listen to what our country is telling us about what's gone wrong for housing in Australia?
The reason that we have taken this significant step to address issues in our housing market is for the benefit of the young people who are sitting today in the public gallery. I say respectfully to those on the other side of the chamber that house prices have gone up 400 per cent in the last 25 years in our country—400 per cent. At what point are those opposite willing to accept that we have a significant problem with housing in our country?
And, if we allow this to continue for another generation, then opportunity and aspiration in our country are going to mean something fundamentally different. I'll just finish by saying this: I was raised in an incredibly patriotic household, and I was raised to believe that the most important thing about our country is that it was equal and fair. That is changing about our nation because of our broken housing market.
We've got homeownership rates for young people falling through the floor. A low income young couple is half as likely to own their own home in Australia today than they were in the year that I was born—and they want to do absolutely nothing about it. Well, we have a different view.
We represent all Australians, especially those young people in the gallery. The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has completed her answer.
She's not being relevant to the question. Resume your seat. We're moving to the next question.
Ministers have to also follow the standing orders. When I give an instruction or advice to the House not to talk about the opposition that means don't talk about the opposition.