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Thursday, 4 August 2022
Page: 705

Mr CHANDLER-MATHER (Griffith) (13:37): This week is homelessness week, and we have a massive housing crisis. In fact, this is one of the worst housing crises in our history. I am sure there are members across this place who are seeing tents appear in their electorates, and residents reaching out who are facing eviction. The rental crisis is reaching social layers that we have not seen before in a long time. We know that this housing crisis is the product of a political and economic system that puts the profits of banks and property investors ahead of ordinary people.

The big banks recorded $14 billion worth of profit, and that was profit made from the misery, dispossession, evictions and housing stress of millions of Australians. What is deeply frustrating is that the Labor government is backing the stage 3 tax cuts, which will cost $224 billion over the next 10 years, but is only committing $10 billion to build social and affordable housing, and I think those are completely broken priorities. We know that every year the social housing waiting list increases by 7,600 homes a year, and 4,000 homes a year is not nearly enough to end that waiting list. These are people's lives that we are talking about.

Mr Rob Mitchell interjecting—

Mr CHANDLER-MATHER: I will take those interjections, because if you had as much passion for people on social and affordable housing as you had about me talking about it then maybe we would fix the problem, wouldn't we? The Greens have a solution though: building a million social and affordable homes. I am proud to continue to fight for that and take the interjections from members in this place who would rather back the stage 3 tax cuts. (Time expired)