Mr STAPLES (Minister for Housing and Aged Care)(3.08) —The shadow Minister for housing, the honourable member for Mayo (Mr Downer), has expressed to this House his great concern for those on public housing waiting lists and the homeless in Australia today. Members of the Opposition are now telling us that public housing and rental accommodation should be cut for those with the lowest incomes in Australia who cannot afford to buy their own homes. The Opposition, when in government, did not have any scheme which was effective enough to cope with the need for crisis accommodation or the needs of those needing supported accommodation. Where was its crisis accommodation program? Where was its supported accommodation assistance program (SAAP)? They did not exist. The Opposition, when in government, had a whole lot of pilot programs which were scattered across the country. It had no real or substantial program such as the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement that has been operating in this country since it was brought in by this Government in 1984.

Let us look at the record relating to home ownership. Home ownership in Australia was lower in the 1981 census than it was in the 1986 census. That is a national fact. And that was at a time of inordinately high growth in households. I will come back to that later. Under the previous coalition Government, first home buyers were assisted under the home deposit assistance scheme and a special tax rebate was available. Neither of those schemes was well targeted. Many people received assistance to buy their first home, but they did not need it. This Government introduced the first home owners scheme and it has been accepted, I believe, by honourable members on both sides of the House, by the industry, and certainly by the community as one of the great achievements in assisting people into home ownership. The first home owners scheme is far better targeted than anything that was created by honourable members opposite.

Seventy per cent of beneficiaries have incomes below average weekly earnings. More than $1,300m has been approved since the inception of the first home owners scheme and that has assisted over 300,000 households. That is a considerable number of people. In fact, all the home ownership and housing assistance programs of this Government have assisted a total of about 1.4 million people which is equivalent to the whole of the population of SA, the home State of the honourable member for Mayo, or to the total population of the city of Perth. That is a considerable number of Australians who have been assisted into home ownership or into living in their own homes in Australia. The Opposition wants to chop it all to ribbons. We have a high level of home ownership in Australia because we now have, under the deregulatory financial policies of this Government, a very large supply of housing finance available.

In the three months to June 1988, secured housing finance commitments by all significant lenders was $6.5 billion. In March 1986 when total regulation applied the figure was $1.9 billion. In terms of the number of dwelling commencements, the honourable member for Mayo was very keen to point out the problems in the industry. In 1982-83 when the coalition left government, how many commencements were there? There were 105,000. Over the period of this Government the figure has consistently been well over 120,000 or 130,000. The honourable member knows very well what the state of the industry is today, yet the honourable member is challenging us to believe that we are now in a state of crisis. How many commencements are expected for next year? Over 150,000 commencements are expected. So much for the crisis. What happened in the period in which the Opposition was in government? The number of commencements has risen from 105,000 to almost 150,000 since we have been in government. That is the difference.

Mr Downer —Ask the welfare groups about the crisis.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Ronald Edwards) —Order! The honourable member will not interject. He was heard in silence. He should extend the same courtesy to the Minister.

Mr STAPLES —We have a better housing situation than was the case when the Opposition was in government because this Government has taken a total, across the board approach to housing. We have not just considered home ownership, which this Government totally supports, but we have looked right across the board at the public housing rental sector and at the private rental sector. We have also taken into consideration the first home owner who is at the point of interface between private rental and home ownership. No-one in this House can seriously challenge the overall success of those policies.

The honourable member for Mayo expressed concern about public housing. Let us look at the Opposition's record in public housing. Let us look at its concern for working people on low incomes for pensioners and for social security beneficiaries. When the Opposition left government its expenditure on public housing, in real terms, amounted to $1.7 billion. We have increased that to $5.3 billion. In 1987-88 the Federal Government made a total commitment of $1.114 billion to the States and the Northern Territory for public housing. That is an increase of 40 per cent in real terms, not in inflated terms, on the measly $552m provided in 1982-83. Two hundred and twenty thousand households have been accommodated in public housing in the five years of this Government compared with the Opposition's record of, not a measly, rotten 220,000 or even 100,000 but 165,000. That is the Opposition's commitment to public housing. It is a farce.

Opposition members talk about assisting people on lower incomes into home ownership. Let us look at the record again. They say that when they get back into government they will cut government spending. When they were in government 50,000 households on low incomes were provided with home loans. This Government has provided home loans to 72,000 households. How many houses did the Opposition assist with rental accommodation in its five years? It added 40,000. How many has this Government added? It has added 70,000. That is the difference and it is well and truly seen by the people out there. They know where first home ownership support comes from. They know where public housing support comes from. Those opposite, who bleat and carry on and shed crocodile tears for people on low incomes who need housing assistance, had their opportunity in government, but they blew it because they really do not care.

We have the supported accommodation assistance program to help people who are homeless, to help young people and older people in housing crisis or in personal crisis and in need of shelter, to help women who are suffering from domestic violence or sexual abuse. What did the Opposition do when it was in government to show it cared about those people? Where was the supported accommodation assistance program? Where was the full crisis accommodation program? It was not there. Funding under the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement has grown to over $100m in 1987-88.

Mr Downer —It is declining in real terms.

Mr STAPLES —It is supporting people which is more than the honourable member's government did when it was in office. This Government's record in economic management is internationally recognised as remarkable. This Government has worked to improve the economic and financial conditions which will benefit home owners. That is the reality. People in public housing, people in need of crisis accommodation, people in private rental accommodation, people trying to get their first home, and people living in homes know very well-they elected us to government and have returned us to government at two subsequent elections-that they cannot trust the Opposition to put together policies. The Opposition cannot put together a tax policy; it cannot put together a health policy; it cannot put together a housing policy that people can trust. That is the difference.

Mr Downer —We have put together a housing policy and the people trust it.

Mr STAPLES —They do not trust it because the Opposition cannot add up. Its housing policy is just a simple wish list and a collection of pious intentions and words. Its repayment assistance proposal is vague to the point of being meaningless. We have to turn to the press for details rather than to the Opposition's policy document. How does the Opposition expect people on incomes of $15,000 to buy properties in Sydney or on the Gold Coast? Yet it says that they should be able to take out loans of up to 100 per cent of the value of the properties. The reality does not have a comprehensive approach to housing assistance or rental assistance. The Opposition will cut social security benefits. It will cut government spending. This Government has policies on social security, incomes support, employment, taxation and housing. These policies cannot be matched by honourable members opposite.

Let us look at the facts. There is more to do with housing in this country than simply provide Commonwealth funding. If one reads the front pages of the Daily Telegraph or one of the other newspapers in Sydney one would think that there is a housing crisis, an affordability crisis, right across Australia. In some sections of Sydney and in some parts of the Gold Coast there are very expensive costs associated with going into housing. That is the reality.

Mr Downer —Doesn't that worry you?

Mr STAPLES —Of course that worries us. But there has been a lot of investment in property over the last couple of years for a variety of reasons and that has put tremendous stress on the availability of land, particularly in desirable areas and in a way as desirable as Sydney. It has put tremendous stress on property values in places such as the Gold Coast. We have to disaggregate the market, not simply rely upon one figure. That masks the national figures. National figures are masked by some of the affordability problems and the overheating problems that exist in Sydney and on the Gold Coast. Those problems need to be addressed by State and local governments as well.

Mr Cadman —Duck the issue when it suits you.

Mr STAPLES —No. The honourable member, who is also from Sydney, realises that the shortage of serviced land in Sydney puts pressures on costs.

Mr Cadman —So you cut State Government budgets.

Mr STAPLES —The honourable member would also realise, I am sure, that there are pressures on local governments in zoning regulations. When Opposition members stand up and talk about housing they expose their weakness. They do not understand the totality of the market. That was evident in the criticism from the honourable member for Mayo of the joint venture for more affordable housing. As we approach the twenty-first century, we have to look at--

Mr Downer —Lower living standards.

Mr STAPLES —Not lower living standards. We have to look at the issues that are changing our society-changing lifestyles and needs. Many young people who are looking for accommodation-the honourable member for Lalor (Mr Barry Jones) would probably correct me-do not necessarily want the quarter-acre block. I am not quite sure what it is in metric. He told us the other day that there is not so great a need for the quarter-acre block for everyone in Australia.

Mr Downer —But you are denying it to them.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Ronald Edwards) —Order! I warn the honourable member for Mayo.

Mr STAPLES —There is not a reduction in quality. There is not a reduction in standards. There are ways of finding more affordable housing of good standards, and ways to build houses better and cheaper. There are changing lifestyles. That is being demanded by the population. The issues surrounding, particularly with our ageing population, de-institutionalisation, and the effects of State and local government will be addressed in the housing review. The Opposition does not have the policies that will take it into government.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER —Order! The honourable member's time has expired.