QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (15:11): I thank the member for Reid for her question, and I thank her for welcoming me to Five Dock yesterday for Ferragosto, a celebration of the Italian Australian community commemorating the ascension into heaven of the Virgin Mary. That is an important event in Italy, and one of the great things about our multicultural Australia is that we get to celebrate events that are held right around the world right here in Australia, in the Australian way.

The Labor government is delivering real change through our $47 billion Homes for Australia plan. We have more first home buyers than we've ever seen before. Over 490,000 loans have been issued to first home buyers under Labor.

The important thing is that young people are getting a fair crack. At auctions around Australia on Saturday, unlike what was previously happening, young people could go and they weren't competing against investors seeking to use negative gearing, and they were getting access to their own home. That was the objective, because the primary purpose of housing is to get a roof over people's heads.

That is the primary purpose of housing, and that is being achieved by young people right around the country. But I'm also asked about what the impact is on supply. What we have done is make sure that, if you want to participate in negative gearing, you still can.

But the difference is that you will not only be investing in your future and your future assets; you'll be investing in the nation by investing in a new build. And the figures released by the ABS last Friday show that it is working. In the June quarter, there was a 27 per cent increase in investor loans for new builds and a 20 per cent increase for construction loans.

Now, there are a few people who know about building in Australia, like Harry Triguboff and others, who are all saying that this is having a positive impact on new builds. That is why the policy was designed that way, very deliberately, to separate out first home buyers. It gives them a fair crack, but, at the same time, it boosts supply, along with the other measures that we have in place that are boosting supply, including through the Housing Australia Future Fund and the Build to Rent scheme.

All these measures aimed at boosting supply in this country are making a difference. On that note, Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.