STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator BRAGG (New South Wales) (13:36): It's of no great shock to the Australian people that the— Senator Ciccone interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Blyth ): It is an informal list, and I will give the call to Senator Bragg. Senator BRAGG: I make the point that I don't think the Australian people are shocked that this housing crisis is getting worse, because I think people knew, when they saw this dreadful budget, that having more taxes was going to result in fewer houses.

What we've seen this week in Canberra is the government covering up their terrible five per cent deposit scheme modelling so we can't see all the assumptions and how they buggered that up. Now what we see is a cover-up job from Dr Chalmers, protecting the modelling they did on the $2 a week modelling rent increases. That is already wrong.

The government said that there would be $2 a week rent increases as a result of their high taxes. What we've seen, in some cases, is $250 a week in places like Sydney as a result of these new taxes. It is extraordinary that the government would come into this place and use this as a protection racket when they should just be giving over the modelling so we can all see how they've buggered up this tax policy and given Australians higher rents and a bungled five per cent deposit scheme.

The other thing we've seen is fewer houses. We've seen 35,000 fewer houses. We've seen a complete collapse in confidence from this government, and so what we've now seen is a housing system in complete disarray as a result of these taxes, higher rents, lower levels of supply and a complete loss of confidence in a housing system which is central to the Australian quality of life.