Australian news and politics recap: Anthony Albanese flails on bills and Peter Dutton fails to land knockout

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has admitted that more needs to be done and that the problem won’t be solved in one term after she was challenged on whether the Albanese Government is falling behind on its target to build 1.2 million new homes over five years.

Journalist: “You spoke about ambition and that $1.2 million target. Your own or the independent

National Housing Supply Council says you’ll be about 300,000 short. Are you willing to say you’re not on track and explain why?

O’Neil: “We need a bold and ambitious target because boldness and ambition is exactly what is required here,” she said.

“We’ve built half a million homes since we’ve been in government.

“If this was a simple problem that could be fixed in a three-year term of a government, it wouldn’t be a 40-year-old crisis that’s been building for our country.

“We’re making real progress against these targets.

“It’s true that, some time ago, when we first set this target, the industry said, if you continue on this current trajectory, you are going to fall significantly short..

“This is something the government is going to need to continue to work on.

“But we’re seeing really positive improvement in the data and we’ll continue to work with states and territories to get there.”

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has claimed that Labor has launched the “boldest” housing agenda since the post-war period in Australia.

Speaking at the National Press CLub on Wednesday, she said Labor had been laying the foundations over its first three years in government for a property support boom if reelected.

She blames “low ambition” in the previous Coalition government which let the problem grow after “a decade of abject neglect.”

“We’ve gotten more Australians into home ownership,” she said.

“Out of those ashes, our government has built - easily - the boldest and most ambitious agenda on housing that a government has had in our country since the post-war period.

“We’re building more homes. Half a million homes have been built since we’ve been in government, and this has been helped by government policies such as free TAFE, which has trained half a million Australians in areas of skills needed for the country.

“We’re working with the states to build 1.2 million homes for Australians and, really importantly, our government is building 55,000 social and affordable homes for people who really need them.”

Shadow housing minister Michael Sukkar has opened his National Press club address to reaffirm the Coalition’s stance that they will not accept a generation of Australians being locked out of home ownership.

He slammed Labor for their poor record on housing across the past three years, saying completions, approvals, and first-home buyer activity have all declined under Labor.

He also slammed them for soaring migration without housing supply, saying more than one million overseas arrivals in two years while fewer homes were built.

“Despite promising so-called billions in housing investment, Labor’s yet to deliver a single new home through a policy implemented this term,” he said.

“Labor chose to run the biggest migration program in a generation, with more than one million overseas arrivals in just two years whilst building fewer homes.

“Rents have jumped a massive 18 per cent under Labor with a family with a typical mortgage $50,000 worse off in higher interest repayments.

“Labor’s prioritised a foreign-owned corporate rental model over home ownership, and it’s aligned itself with unions like the CFMEU, which has driven up costs.

“Labor’s promise to build 1.2 million homes over five years will never see the light of day, with industry experts predicting a shortfall of not a little bit, but of 400,000 homes.”

Clare O’Neil and Michael Sukkar have arrived at the National Press Club in Canberra to face off over housing ahead of the Federal election.

Mr Sukkar is opening the event after winning the coin toss.

Both leaders are expected to present their visions for addressing affordability and supply challenges.

Labor has pledged $10 billion to build 100,000 homes exclusively for first-home buyers over eight years and will expand the Home Guarantee Scheme by removing income caps and place limits, allowing purchases with a 5 per cent deposit and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance.

The Coalition’s plan includes allowing buyers to deduct mortgage interest on loans up to $650,000 from taxable income, raising income thresholds for the guarantee scheme, and enabling access to $50,000 from superannuation for a deposit.

On the supply side, Labor said its $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will create an additional 40,000 social and affordable homes, and the Coalition proposes a $5 billion infrastructure fund to unlock 500,000 homes in greenfield areas.

The Opposition Leader is asked whether he has security concerns, given the PM had been confronted in his hotel overnight.

Mr Dutton says the police “do a fantastic job”.

The Opposition Leader has been pressed on what the Coalition is doing for women, with the reporter pointing out that they tend to skew more “masculine” in their messages and images.

The reporter points out that Mr Dutton has focused on mining, construction, agrictulre and energy as the four pillars of the economy, and in his campaign launch he only mentioned women twice - in the context of how he protected them from domestic violence and crime.

“I am offering the chance for them to get a home. Homeless women are at a record level under this government...,” he starts before the reporter points out that housing is an issue for everyone.

He’s asked what the Coalition is offering more female-dominated sectors like education and health, to which he says “we will invest more each year”.

He continued: “The 25 centre fuel excise reduction is targeted at women driving kids around or delivery truck drivers who are trying to make ends meet.”

Mr Dutton is asked what a Coalition government would do differently to manage the increasingly close relationship between Russia and Indonesia?

He says they would work “closely” with Indonesia, PNG and other Pacific nations and engance those relationships.

“We need to make sure we can work with (Indonesia) because having Russia with a permanent presence or greater presence in our region is not in our country’s best national security interests,” he said.

The Opposition Leader is asked whether a Coalition Government would maintain the eight per cent growth target for the NDIS.

To that, he says he wants to see the NDIS “grow” sustainably.

“I want to make sure the priority remains those participants and those most in need,” he said.

The Opposition Leader is asked if he had indeed “overreached”, as Mr Albanese claimed, and potentially insulted Indonesia.

Mr Dutton attacks Senator Wong in response, and skirts around questions of whether his comments could impact the relationship with Jakarta.

“The relationship between Indonesia and Russia is closer, we know that and we want to continue (our) relationship because we don’t want Russian assets in our region,” he said.

He’s later asked to concede whether he made a mistake to say the Indonesian President had confirmed reports, when he never did.

Mr Dutton says he’s already responded to that question, and won’t bite.

Mr Dutton is asked about the former Coalition Government being on the backfoot of a 2022 defence pact between the Solomon Islands and China, and whether saying he doesn’t want to cohost Cop31 with Pacific nations puts at risk the trust of our closest neighbours and “moving them towards China”.

The Opposition Leader says the former Government had also helped get Covid-19 vaccines to Pacific nations who had been “unbelievably grateful”.

“We worked very closely with our neighburs and met their need in a way China wasn’t able to... So I think if you look at the facts, when we were in Government we were a great partner with many countries,” he said.