STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mrs McINTOSH (Lindsay) (16:15): This government is actively sabotaging the aspirations of young Australians right across this country with punitive property taxes, raiding their future and tearing down the Australian dream of home ownership. Under Labor, young Australians are trapped on a housing hamster wheel—working harder, paying more and watching their home ownership dreams slip away.

In my electorate of Lindsay, there is nowhere to hide from the devastating fallout. Our median age is just 35 and nearly 40 per cent of our families are drowning under the weight of mortgage stress. And the pressure is only getting worse.

In just three months, another 52,000 Australian families have been dragged under water, collapsing into severe mortgage stress. Yet, the Albanese government has the absolute audacity to look struggling families straight in the eye and tell them how well they are doing and that they should be grateful. And now, more than 34,000 desperate families and first home buyers across the country are staring down the barrel of negative equity, owing more than their homes are worth.

In Penrith alone, when it comes to rent, families are being bled dry as house rents spike 7.8 per cent to a brutal $625 a week. Unit rents have jumped 5.5 per cent to $580. Labor aren't just ignoring the Australian dream; they are actively killing it.