Julie Collins 2022

JULIE COLLINS:

The Albanese Government will help deliver more social and affordable rental homes across Australia with an additional $2 billion in financing now available from 1 July 2023.

SARAH FERGUSON:

Julie Collins. Welcome to 7.30.

JULIE COLLINS:

Thank you, Sarah.

FERGUSON:

The Albanese Government has appointed Ms Carol Austin as the Chair and Mr Nigel Ray and the Hon Richard Wynne as members of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) Board.

As I said back in February – and on countless occasions since – we don’t have enough homes.

We need to build more of the right homes in the right places.

And we need to build them sooner rather than later.

Australia’s housing affordability challenges are complex.

All parents want to provide a stable home for their kids. That's why I've been working with the Prime Minister to make it easier for people to find somewhere safe and affordable to call home.

Let me share a letter that shows just how essential this work is.

A woman wrote to me from the home she now shares with her two children, saying it:

The Albanese Government has helped more than 50,000 Australians into home ownership in the 12 months since the election.

This includes more than 6,000 Australians through the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee since it was launched in October ‑ three months ahead of schedule.

Before the last election, one of the things that I heard most from Tasmanians was that they wanted a grown‑up government back in charge.

After almost a decade of inaction, chaos and dysfunction from the former Liberal government, it’s easy to understand why this was the simple wish of so many voters.

Today the Minister for Small Business Julie Collins chaired a meeting of her state and territory counterparts in Hobart.

The meeting was the second of its kind since Minister Collins re‑established the forum with the state and territory Small Business Ministers in December last year. December’s meeting was the first in eight years.

JULIE COLLINS:

Can I start by acknowledging the traditional owners on this land we meet today, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. And say how terrific it is to be here at the University of Tasmania’s Tax Clinic to discuss particularly our government's recent Budget announcement in relation to tax clinics and how we're helping small businesses.