DOCUMENTS

Senator BRAGG (New South Wales) (12:07): Speaking of the abuse of this institution, in taking note of the minister's answer or explanation—if you can call it that—it is very clear that this government is trampling all over this institution by refusing in any way to seriously address the question before this chamber. And the question is: why hasn't the government provided the five per cent deposit scheme modelling?

That is the question. That is why this minister was required to come in here and explain himself last Tuesday and next Tuesday when we're back here in the bush capital because we are well paid to come to Canberra to do these jobs and to get answers for the Australian people. The fact is that the Prime Minister said the five per cent deposit scheme, the removal of means testing and the removal of caps was going to result in a 0.6 per cent increase in home prices over six years.

What we saw after the changes came in on 1 October was a six per cent increase in six months for entry-level houses that Australians might be able to purchase. That is why, I assume, the government does not want to provide the Treasury modelling and all we see is pages and pages of redacted material, which is showing this government's disrespect for the Senate.

It's no wonder the Centre for Public Integrity has said this is the most secretive government since the Keating government 30 years ago by virtue of their failure to respond to Senate orders, their failure to provide proper answers to freedom of information requests, and their failure to be transparent, honest and upfront. What they should have said is: 'Here is the Treasury modelling unredacted so people can see it, analyse it and look at the parameters.

And you know what? We got it wrong. We got this wrong, or we got that wrong.

We relied on that. We shouldn't have relied on this.' People will respect you more for being honest and upfront. No-one expects the government to be perfect, but we want the government to be the best government they can be, which is the job of the opposition.

You wonder why people don't like politicians; this is the reason. You come in here and you give your five-minute explanation. You talk about the moon landing and all these other random things that have nothing to do with the issue at hand, which is: why hasn't the government provided the five per cent deposit scheme modelling?

That is the question we've been pursuing for months. While we're on that topic, this is part of a pattern of behaviour. This government has not provided the modelling and the detail behind their promise that rents would only go up by $2 a week when they're going to go up by up to $200 a week in places like Sydney.

We can't see that modelling, and we can't see the modelling behind the tax changes which threaten to remove 35,000 houses from Australians over the next few years. So we see no modelling on five per cent deposits, we see no modelling on $2-a-week rent increases and we see no modelling on 35,000 fewer houses. That is a disgrace.

The people down at the Treasury are paid to do work not for you but for the Australian people. When they do their modelling, it should be presented for the public interest. We should be able to see the parameters that you relied on when you made these schemes, when you did your budget.

We should be able to see them. The fact that you are sitting on them—and that, every time you come in to give the explanations, you talk about a thousand different random things—is a disgrace. And it is an abuse of process.

By coming in here and saying the opposition are doing the wrong thing by trying to get answers, you're basically saying there's no point in having a parliament. That's what you're saying. Our job is to be the best opposition we can be, which means holding the government to account to get transparency and answers for the Australian people.

You are spending billions of dollars on weird housing experiments. You are radically changing the tax code to reduce housing supply and to increase rents. These are issues that matter to the Australian people, whether they live in the cities or in the bush.

They are now paying the price for your tax experiments, your weird tax surgery, in the form of higher rents and fewer homes. That is not going to help the Australian people. We will never give up on trying to get to the bottom of these things, because that is our job.

That is our job and that's what we are paid to do. So we'll keep on pursuing the five per cent deposits, we'll pursue your promise of $2-a-week rent increases—which is a joke and already a laughing-stock—and we will pursue your policy of having a deliberate design feature to reduce supply. Just because you spend billions of dollars on housing doesn't mean you get more houses.

In fact, the evidence is in. After these four or five years of this Labor Party in government—you spend more money, but you get fewer houses.