I am taking note of the question asked by Senator Andrew Bragg, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to talk about our housing agenda again in this place because there is no economic issue that weighs heavier on the minds of young South Australians than this one. For young people living in my community, housing is at the top of their agenda in terms of what they want to see our government do. We know many Australians across our country are working harder and harder but finding homeownership increasingly out of reach. Families, who once could buy on one income, are now struggling to enter the market on two. I've seen it with my own friends and family, who turn up to auction after auction thinking they are in with a chance only to see that glimpse of hope slip away from them.

And it's not just those young Australians who are seeking to buy their first home. It's also renters, who we know have faced frequent and steep rent increases. Renters are struggling as well with their housing affordability, which of course then creates a cycle where it makes it harder and harder to save for a deposit and harder and harder to get into their own home. Parents are worried about their children and grandparents are worried about their grandchildren because they want them to have the same sort of stability when it came to their housing that they did, because we know that for so many families a stable and secure home is at the heart of family life. But this housing crisis didn't happen overnight. It comes from years of neglect. It stems from a coalition government who, in 10 years, didn't even appoint a housing minister. A coalition government who built only 373 social and affordable homes in a decade. As if their legacy wasn't bad enough, then almost every time we've come into this chamber, come into this parliament, with a plan to build more homes, to help renters, to help people get into a home, to make housing more affordable, they've voted against it, they've delayed it and they've criticised it. It's bad enough that their own legacy leaves such a stain on our history of housing, but yet they want to undermine our agenda.

Let's be clear, our agenda is ambitious. It is unashamedly ambitious because we know how important this issue is for the Australian people. We have a $43 billion housing plan with three goals: to build more homes, to support renters and to make buying easier. The heart of the challenge before us is supply. We are working tirelessly around the clock with the states and territories and with the private sector as well to get more houses built, to get more Australians into homes, to overcome this supply challenge, because we know that is what will make a difference. Since we've come to office, we've seen more than half a million homes built. We've seen 5,000 new social and affordable homes delivered, and 25,000 more are in the planning or construction phase. This includes homes for First Nations families and for women and children escaping violence. These homes are making a difference in the lives of Australians now.

We're supporting first home buyers. From 1 October we introduced our five per cent deposit scheme, which is available to first home buyers, meaning no lenders mortgage will be required. 180,000 Australians have already purchased their first home with a five per cent deposit, the biggest expansion of deposit support in Australian history. Our Homes for Australia Plan aims to build 1.2 million new homes by 2030, the most ambitious plan we have seen in decades. We're supporting renters with an increase to the Commonwealth rent assistance, which we raised by 45 per cent, the first back-to-back rises in 30 years, helping one million low-income households. In my home state of South Australia, we've seen more than 6,200 people being able to get into their first home using our five per cent deposit plan. We’re seeing 1,100 homes in South Australia built through the Housing Australia, sorry we're funding 1,100 homes in South Australia through the Housing Australia Future Fund. Thanks to our grants and low-cost financing, we're supporting the delivery of 425 more social and affordable homes in South Australia.

We have an ambitious plan because we know how important the issue of housing is for Australians. The opposition have only ever sought to block our legislation, to delay it and to stand in the way of our agenda. Their own legacy on housing is a stain in this policy area. Their legacy is continuing by the way they've behaved in this chamber today.