STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator HUME (Victoria—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (13:30): I rise to share the words of Charlotte, who is an 11-year-old who participated in the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign. Here's what Charlotte wanted to say: Shaping young people's future is the price of living. For many people cannot afford a house.

Because 82% of people can't afford to buy a house in Melbourne. It makes me so worried that so many people are struggling just to have a roof over their head. In the lead up to this current crisis factors like severe shortage of new housing supply are very low.

In 2014, the average house in Melbourne cost $615,000 but now it costs $1,030,000! That is almost two times more expensive! Because houses cost way too much, families are forced into a terrible choice: they must sacrifice buying essential things like food so they can pay for their home.

It is really scary to think that by the time it is 2040 a house could cost around two million dollars. Together we can shape this future! We can make prices go down by building a lot more houses so there are enough for everyone.

We need to take action so when children are older they can turn their dream of owning a house into a reality. That's why we need to take action now … and make housing cheaper.! Well, that was Charlotte—the voice of an 11-year-old.

Clearly, this is an issue that is affecting multiple generations, and they are younger and younger every day. Charlotte, the coalition agrees with you. We do need to build more homes so that young Australians like you can realise their dreams of homeownership, because every young Australian deserves the opportunity to work hard, to save for a deposit and to look forward to a future where owning a home is within reach.