My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How is the Albanese Labor government investing in infrastructure to get more houses built more quickly? How has this approach been received and are there any risks to this approach?
Ms C KING (Ballarat-Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) (15:04):
I thank the excellent member for Hunter for that question. We know that there are many Australians who are wanting to get access to rental properties and they are wanting to own their own homes. It is why this government has been so focused on the cost of living and on getting new homes built right now. We are increasing the supply of homes and have an ambitious goal of 1.2 million houses. We're incentivising states and territories to build more homes through the New Homes Bonus. And today this parliament has passed the Help to Buy legislation, and I want to give credit to the housing minister and her predecessor for the great work on that. I know there is a lot more to do.
We are also using infrastructure to unlock and streamline approvals for new homes. We are investing more than 19 billion from housing and has a plan to force councils to raise rates through concessional loans to pay for infrastructure. That will get passed on to every single resident, from the regions to the cities to our suburbs.
