STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr WOOD (La Trobe) (13:39): Labor has a housing problem, and Australians are paying the price. Fewer houses are being built, rents are high and confidence in the market has crashed, particularly in my electorate of La Trobe, which is one of the fastest growing growth corridors in Australia. Government spending has increased, debt is approaching $1 trillion, and Australians are dealing with sustained pressure on their living standards and household budgets.

Labor's budget forecasts that its tax changes will result in around 35,000 fewer homes being built. That's their own budget figures. Westpac mortgage applications have fallen by 20 per cent since Labor's May budget, a warning sign that buyers and investors are losing confidence.

We're also hearing that first home buyers out there are very concerned about getting into the market, as they're seeing prices drop. What they don't want to do is to get into the market now and then have negative equity. You cannot fix a housing shortage by making housing investment less attractive and making it harder to build new homes.

Under Labor, migration has been a huge issue. The coalition would cap net overseas migration each year at below the number of new homes completed—around 173,000. When it comes to migration and housing, Labor has made a complete mess of this, especially for new home buyers.