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Senator DARMANIN (Victoria—Deputy Government Whip in the Senate) (09:12): I'd like to take note of the comments already made, particularly those by Senator Ayres, in response to this matter. I agree with Senator Bragg about one thing: Australians aren't idiots. What I disagree with is what we should be focusing on here in this chamber.

We should be focusing on building more housing for Australians. That is what this government is absolutely focused on. Senator Ayres, I think, rightly pointed out the government's response to this matter but also the record number of OPDs in this place to try and deflect and play politics with an issue that is very serious and important to the Australian people.

It is about delivering more housing for Australians and delivering more housing that is affordable, and that is what we care about. We care about getting Australians into affordable housing. We know Australians aren't idiots, and we know also that Australians don't want us to be playing politics with getting them into housing.

We heard some entertaining words from Senator Bragg just then—something strange about Lake Burley Griffin and the like—but let's focus on what we really need to be focusing on, and that is the housing pressures that Australians are facing, which of course didn't emerge overnight. There's no single solution and there's no single fix. On this side, we know this and we want to work on this rather than play political games with the matter.

Because of this, the government has taken a comprehensive approach to tackling the housing challenge. We are getting on with the job, not playing politics. Since coming to office, the Albanese Labor government has transformed the role of the Commonwealth in housing from a passive observer to implementer of the most ambitious national housing agenda that we've seen since the postwar era.

We've commenced the largest housing build in Australia's history, with a goal of building 1.2 million homes, including 55,000 new social and affordable homes for the Australians who need them most. But increasing supply is only one part of the solution, and we're also making homeownership more accessible. Since coming to office, more than 260,000 Australians have purchased their first home through the government's five per cent deposit scheme.

That has allowed eligible buyers to purchase with a five per cent deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance. For many Australians, these changes will cut years off the time required to save a deposit while saving tens of thousands of dollars in lenders mortgage insurance. That is getting on with the job; that is not playing politics with people who want to get into housing.

We've also launched Help to Buy, our shared equity program enabling Australians who are eligible to purchase a home with as little as a two per cent deposit and a smaller mortgage. And, of course, parliament has passed our housing tax reform package. These reforms have a number of objectives.

One of them is to create a fairer balance between the taxation of income earned through work and that of income earned through capital gains. The second is, importantly, to help more Australians achieve homeownership—again, delivering on housing rather than playing politics. The third is to improve productivity by directing investment toward more productive uses across the economy.

On this, we know that the negative gearing aspects for residential property will change from 2027-28 to be limited to newly built homes, encouraging investment where Australians need it most, into—you guessed it—increasing more housing supply. The current 50 per cent capital gains tax will also be replaced with the inflation indexation from 1 July 2027, which ensures that tax concessions apply to genuine capital gains rather than inflationary increases.

These reforms are expected to help around 75,000 additional first home buyers enter the market over the next decade while also helping to fund further tax relief for working Australians, because we on this side know that housing is important, we know it is a challenge, and we are absolutely focused on delivering more housing and getting more people into housing.

Alongside these reforms, we are investing a further $2 billion in enabling infrastructure, accelerating planning approvals, reducing red tape, expanding the skilled construction workforce and extending the ban on foreign investors purchasing existing homes until mid-2029. This is a comprehensive housing agenda—addressing supply and addressing affordability, homeownership and rental pressures simultaneously.

The contrast with those opposite could not be clearer. We've heard that this morning, and I'm sure we'll continue to hear it—their policy solution, to tie this place up in arguments and debate about politics rather than actually deliver for Australians.