STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr CALDWELL (Fadden—Opposition Chief Whip) (13:54): Labor has delivered a trifecta of failure on housing: fewer homes, higher rents and confidence in the housing market completely smashed. Make no mistake; it's Labor's toxic taxes at work that are doing the damage. When you tax something more, you will get less of it.

This is no surprise. It even says on page 158 of the budget papers that were delivered in May that Labor's new taxes will cause 35,000 fewer homes to be delivered. Their list of taxes just keeps growing.

We've got taxes on housing, super, capital gains, negative gearing and now, this week, babies. It's unbelievable. If it doesn't stand still, they'll tax it.

Even if it's alive and kicking for now, through its whole life, it will be taxed to death by this Labor government. The shocking statistic out this week is that one in three Australian homes bought in the last 12 months, including more than half of those bought in Sydney and Melbourne, are now valued below the purchase price. That's right—negative equity.

This minister famously wandered out of her Pilates class while saying that she would go and smash some Liberals. What she should be doing is smashing the housing crisis.