Doorstop 30 September 2026

Subjects: Building approvals collapse, housing supply, housing construction costs, inflation and interest rate rises, National Construction Code and gold plating, Senate Intergenerational Housing inquiry report. Labor’s Budget housing tax hikes.

E&OE....

Senator Bragg:

I don't think housing in this country has ever been as bad as it is right now. What we have seen is a collapse in approvals. We already had a massive collapse in completions, but now we have a collapse in approvals, we have rising taxes, and we have an increasing regulatory burden, which just means that housing overall has never been this bad.

Now, fewer houses means that it's going to be harder for people to pay the rent, it's going to be harder for people to buy a first home, and this government has a deliberate policy of reducing housing supply through its new taxes. In the Budget, the government promised it would cut supply by 35,000, one of the most insane judgments ever in Australian politics. I mean, this country needs every new house it can get. And the fact that Albanese and Chalmers have gone out of their way to cancel new housing just shows the mess that Australia is in in terms of having higher rents and also now facing the prospect of fewer first-home owners. Then we see today the inflation data, and inflation is up, interest rates are up. And so 16 interest rate rises under Anthony Albanese means that it is harder than ever to purchase a first house and to service that mortgage. So you've got high taxes, you've got high inflation, you've got high regulatory burdens facing the housing sector. And that's why, when you look at the overall position, we are getting 30,000 fewer houses a year. That is why housing has never been so bad, because these guys have no idea what they're doing. They have lost control of the housing system. And when you look at the regulatory burden, it is illegal to build a cheap house in Australia under Labor. They won't let a first-home buyer purchase and build a cheap house. They want to force gold plating onto people, which is why we've promised to fix the National Construction Code. So high taxes, more regulation, higher inflation—that is a trifecta of death in Australian housing that we are now living through.

The Report today from the Senate shows that Labor has lost control of the housing system, and they have delivered a system which is unfair on younger people. I would say that Labor is waging war on young people who want to buy a first house, because the new taxes are punitive for younger people. They've carved out themselves from the tax changes, but they are hitting younger people with a minimum 30% Capital Gains Tax. They're taking away tax incentives that were available to older people. That is damaging the overall character of the housing system because we're getting fewer houses, but it's particularly focused on taking away tax opportunities for younger Australians to get into that first house, that elusive first house, and to build wealth.

So between that and their ban on young people building a cheap house—I mean, people's first house doesn't need to be gold-plated. And older Australians can relate to the fact that the first house that they acquired probably wasn't the Taj Mahal. But Labor want to force this gold plating through seven-star energy ratings and building every house as if you are disabled onto younger people, which is forcing up the cost of new housing by at least $70 grand a piece. So today we see a new Senate Report documenting the failure of Labor's housing plan. We see interest rates going up yesterday, we see inflation up today, we see building approvals down today, and we see the regulatory burden persistently bad.

So that is why you've got this crooked cocktail which has destroyed Australian housing, and that's why the younger people are going bananas, because they just see the Australian dream further and further out of reach. And for the Treasurer and the Prime Minister to say yesterday that they're making housing fairer, it just shows how out of touch they are. Because when you look at the key facts: you've got fewer houses, fewer mortgages, and higher rents. That means Australian housing is cooked, and we are on the highway to hell here in Australia under this government. They've run out of ideas, and after five years it's very clear that until we change the Government, we will never, ever fix Australian housing.

[Ends]