PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr RICK WILSON (O'Connor) (11:22): Australia's housing crisis is not confined to our capital cities. It is being felt just as acutely in our regional communities, where families, workers, first home buyers and local businesses are struggling under the weight of Labor's failed housing policies. For many regional Australians, the dream of homeownership is moving further out of reach.
Communities that have traditionally offered affordable housing and a better quality of life are now facing housing shortages, rising rents and increasing pressure on local infrastructure. This Labor government has failed to deliver on its own housing commitments. Labor's headline promise was to deliver 1.2 million homes by mid-2029, yet they are already more than 100,000 dwellings behind this schedule and are projected to miss their own target by more than 220,000 homes.
Under the coalition, around 200,000 homes were built annually. Under Labor, that figure has fallen to approximately 170,000 homes per year. At a time when Australia desperately needs more housing, construction has gone backwards.
For regional communities like mine, the consequences are severe. Teachers, nurses, police officers, aged-care workers and small-business employees are increasingly unable to find affordable accommodation. Labor's tax changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax are making it unattractive for regional workers to invest either locally or where they ultimately want to live and raise their families.
Employers across regional Australia report that housing shortages are preventing them from attracting and retaining workers. The escalating cost of building in the regions, combined with the changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing, is disincentivizing private-sector investment in regional housing infrastructure. Not only are Labor's budget measures reducing housing supply and undermining investor confidence in building the homes Australians need; their migration policy is not aligned to housing supply.
Australia has always benefited from migration, particularly skilled migration. Regional communities like mine rely on skilled workers in the health-care, childcare, agriculture, construction and hospitality industries. However, migration levels must be managed responsibly.
Under Labor, annual net overseas migration has averaged almost 400,000 people, while housing construction has fallen significantly. The result is that demand has raced ahead of supply. According to the opposition, Labor's housing and migration settings have contributed to a housing shortfall of between 350,000 and 400,000 people, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Canberra.
The coalition offers a practical and achievable solution. Central to our plan is a $5 billion housing infrastructure fund that will help unlock up to 400,000 new homes across Australia. Critically, at least $1.5 billion of this funding will be specifically allocated to regional, rural and remote Australia.
This is important because housing developments cannot proceed without the necessary enabling infrastructure. Too often regional housing projects are stalled because there is insignificant investment in roads, water systems, sewerage networks, electricity connections and other essential infrastructure. My local councils know where housing can be built.
Developers are ready to invest, and families are ready to move. But without supporting infrastructure, those projects remain stuck on paper. The coalition plans to address that problem directly.
By investing in enabling infrastructure, we can unlock land, accelerate housing developments and create new opportunities for families seeking affordable homes in regional Australia. Regional Australia is not just part of the solution; regional Australia is the solution. In a nation as large as ours, it makes little sense for housing growth to be concentrated in a handful of metropolitan areas while enormous opportunities exist throughout regional communities.
By supporting growth in our regions we can ease pressure on our cities while strengthening regional economies and communities. The coalition will also cut unnecessary red tape by reducing the complexity of the National Construction Code while maintaining essential safety standards. The coalition estimates that this could reduce the cost of building a new home by up to $70,000.
For many regional families, that could mean the difference between being able to buy a home or remaining locked out of the market. We will also ensure migration is linked to housing completions so that population growth does not continue to outstrip Australia's capacity to build homes. At the same time, we will prioritise skilled migrants, including construction workers and tradespeople, who can help increase housing supply across both metropolitan and regional Australia.
Labor's approach has delivered fewer homes, missed targets and growing housing shortages. A re-elected coalition will restore the great Australian dream of homeownership for Australians who work hard, save hard and want a place to call their own. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Payne ): The time allotted for this debate has expired.
The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.