JULIE COLLINS:
As a proud Tasmanian I do want to start by congratulating now Queen Mary of Denmark. As a Tasmanian, we’re obviously very proud of Queen Mary and her achievements to date and I’m sure we’ll be very proud going into the future.
Today marks a milestone with the Albanese Labor government with the opening of Housing Australia Future Fund tender round and indeed the National Housing Accord tender round. We are opening today, through Housing Australia, the single biggest investment in more than a decade from the federal government with the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund first tender round. This will be the first of many, we’re talking about investments in social and affordable housing. We’re talking about 30,000 from the Housing Australia Future Fund in the first five years and a further 10,000 from the National Housing Accord. Housing Australia will be looking forward to working with states and territories and the community housing providers on the applications in coming months as we get ready for the first distribution to come from the Housing Australia Future Fund. What we’re talking about here is working with everybody to get more homes on the ground, more quickly.
And of course our Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord are just part of the government’s housing agenda. We’ve already provided $2 billion to the states and territories through the Social Housing Accelerator. Homes are starting construction in this half of 2024 for the Social Housing Accelerator, we’re talking around 4,000 new homes nationally, that the states and territories will provide. This is social housing for those Australians that need it most. And of course all of our other measures, the $3.5 billion for the New Homes Bonus that is on the table to encourage the states and territories to do the planning reform that is necessary to get more homes on the ground, more quickly. The National Cabinet agreement on renters’ rights. We’re talking about another $1 billion going into Housing Australia for the National Housing Infrastructure Facility. We already have underway today homes because we unlocked $575 million over a year ago now in terms of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility.
We are working at every opportunity to get as many homes on the ground as quickly as we can, understanding that this is a difficult task and we can’t turn this around immediately. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST:
Minister one of the difficulties the industry says is a lack of skilled workers to build these homes, tradies, those sorts of things, do you agree that there’s a shortages and what are you doing to ensure there are enough to build the homes?
COLLINS:
We absolutely understand the constraints in the construction sector. We’re working with the construction sector and talking to them about the constraints in the industry. We are of course having conversations right across government in terms of the skills necessary, whether that be the migration ministers and training minister. That’s why of course, we have Fee‑Free TAFE for areas of demand, including those in the trades industry. We understand that we need to work right across the board. We’re also working in terms of the supply chain constraints and making sure we can make more of the supplies here in Australia when it comes to housing. We’re also looking at innovative construction methods – I know that in Queensland and in Western Australia and in Victoria they’re looking at modular housing and alternative construction methods so we get homes up, as quickly as we can, but making sure they’re good homes and they’re in the right places.
JOURNALIST:
Are you looking at getting in more workers from overseas and speeding that process up potentially?
COLLINS:
We’re obviously having conversations right across government about how we do fill the skills. We understand the constraints in the sector, we’re working with the sector and working right across government to get the skills we need to build the homes as quickly as we can. But as I’ve said we’re also looking at innovative methods of construction and alternative methods of construction whilst we build that workforce. We want to train as many Australians as we can. We want to see the construction of homes increase across the country.
JOURNALIST:
You’ve talked about innovative, alternative approaches, there’s already pressures with the workforce, how do you ensure there is a quality of delivery, that the homes that are built aren’t just smashed up, that they’re good quality homes that are going to last the test of time?
COLLINS:
What we want to do is make sure that the homes are the right homes in the right places and they’re well constructed homes. We also of course, want to make sure, we’re meeting universal design standards in terms of silver access wherever practicable and indeed reaching the highest possible energy ratings as we can, so that we put downward pressure on the cost of living and the regular costs for those tenants of those homes. So, we are working, as I said, right across government to make sure that we can get as many homes on the ground as quickly as we can.
JOURNALIST:
Regarding stage three tax cuts, that's obviously happening. The Prime Minister was quite clear about that this morning. But is the government open to looking at other ways we can make our tax system more equitable, given the concerns that are out there about stage three and who that benefits?
COLLINS:
What we've said clearly is that we're looking across government about how we can reduce cost of living. We know Australians have been doing it tough, which is why I'm working so hard on getting more homes on the ground. We know that one of the biggest cost‑of‑living pressures Australian families are under, particularly those with a mortgage or those who are renting, is the cost of housing, which is why we've also done things like had the largest increase in the Commonwealth Rent Assistance in more than 30 years, which is why we've provided that money immediately to the states to get more public housing and social housing on the ground as quickly as we can. We want to make sure that we're providing cost‑of‑living relief to Australians that need it most. But we're obviously also very conscious of inflation and making sure we don't make the Reserve Bank of Australia's job any harder. But we do understand Australians are doing it tough and we're looking at all the options available to us.
JOURNALIST:
Just on stage three tax cuts, why do you personally think that they should be retained?
COLLINS:
We've been pretty clear our position as the government hasn't changed. We went into the election saying that we would keep the stage three tax cuts and our position hasn't changed there. What we're doing is looking right across the board about how we provide cost‑of‑living relief to Australians that need it most. As I've said as Minister for Housing, when it comes to things like Commonwealth Rent Assistance and houses, about how do we make it easier for Australians to get into affordable housing. I want to make sure that more Australians have a safe, affordable place to call home, which is why I'm working with my state and territory colleagues, with local governments to try and get as many homes on the ground as quickly as I can. We've also got other Ministers delivering – whether it be cheaper medicines, cheaper childcare, whether it be Fee‑Free TAFE. Right across the board, we are looking at ways that we can provide cost‑of‑living relief for Australians that need it most.
JOURNALIST:
With respect, saying that our position has not changed doesn't provide an answer to the question of why you think they should be retained. What is the merit of these tax changes?
COLLINS:
Look, this is about supporting Australians. What we are saying is we took commitments to the last election, we're keeping our commitments. But we're also understanding that many Australians are doing it tough. Australians right across the board, and we are supporting Australians in ways that we can, that do not add to inflation, such as things like cheaper childcare, which affects many families. Making sure that we have Fee‑Free TAFE for skills in areas that we need, making sure that we're supporting those Australians that are doing it tough. When we had increases in payments, things like increase in the Commonwealth Rent Assistance, putting downward pressure on inflation, but also providing relief to people that need it most.
JOURNALIST:
The Prime Minister has suggested the government’s not necessarily waiting until the May Budget for further cost‑of‑living relief, is the adequacy of Commonwealth Rent Assistance under review again? And what could you do for new home owners who have suffered the most from interest rate rises?
COLLINS:
We are working right across the board but what we have done is supported more Australians into their first home and home ownership. Since we’ve come to office we’ve supported more than 93,000 people into home ownership. We’ve done that through changing the Home Guarantee Scheme. We’re obviously got our Help to Buy, our shared equity scheme, in the Parliament. That will help up to 40,000 Australians into home ownership and make sure that as a government shares equity the mortgages will be lower and their repayments will be lower. But we’re looking at options right across the board but we also of course have cost‑of‑living measures that are in place today and continuing such as, more housing.
JOURNALIST:
A number of Woolworths stores have been vandalised across Brisbane for not selling Australia Day merchandise, do you think that’s as a result of Peter Dutton’s comments to boycott Woolworths?
COLLINS:
Peter Dutton is responsible for his comments. Frankly I think all Australians should be supporting companies that employ tens of thousands, and indeed hundreds of thousands of Australians and we’ve got farmers that supply to Woolworths. Peter Dutton should be held accountable for his words and I’m not going to make any further comment about him and his words.
JOURNALIST:
Minister today DP World has warned the pay dispute with the unions could drag on for months what impact will there be on costs for Australians?
COLLINS:
The minister has been pretty clear in relation to this dispute, we think all parties should come back to the table and negotiate in good faith. We do know this needs to be resolved as quickly as it can be, we need to make sure we have goods moving across the country and part of that is making sure this gets resolved as quickly as possible so I would encourage all parties to come to the table to negotiate and get it done.
JOURNALIST:
When is Help to Buy going to be in place?
COLLINS:
We’re working as quickly as we can. All of the states and territories agreed at National Cabinet that they would introduce legislation to allow Help to Buy to work in their jurisdictions, it will not be able to work in states until they pass that legislation. Of course here in Canberra it has been referred to a Senate committee and we’re working across the Parliament, briefing right across the Parliament and talking to other members of Parliament to get it done as quickly as we can get it done.
JOURNALIST:
You seem open to experimental approaches on construction for the development of these houses to get them up quickly, are there additional safety measures in place to ensure that these homes are built properly, there won’t be issues of construction, of cowboys in the industry trying to seize on this? Are there any additional safety checks and balances in place?
COLLINS:
All of the homes built under the Housing Australia Future Fund will need to meet the strictest conditions in terms of standards, in terms of universal access and in terms of making sure they are energy efficient. Thanks everyone.