Albanese says Ley ‘bold’ to claim credit for new housing policies as question time begins
It’s question time!
Sussan Ley starts it off, asking about the government’s housing policies announced over the weekend to pause the construction code and expand the 5% deposit scheme.
The opposition leader asks why it took a three-day “talk fest” to come up with two policies the Coalition had already come up with.*
*a note here: the policies are similar, but slightly different (the PM also had to explain this on morning media).
Albanese stands up and says Ley is “bold” to call the policies Coalition ideas. He then accuses the Coalition of working to oppose and abolish Labor’s housing programs, such as the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Right around the country, people are benefitting from the Housing Australia Future Fund, which will build social and affordable homes. They opposed it, like they opposed the Help to Buy program, which is about shared equity schemes. Now, on the increased home ownership with the 5% deposit, this is what Andrew Bragg, the shadow minister for housing, has had to say: ‘We will work to try and stop these crazy ideas coming into existence.’ That is what they’ve had to say.
Updated at 00.38 EDT
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Ted O’Brien is back, and asks the prime minister whether he will “insist” that the government introduce quantifiable fiscal rules to stop Jim Chalmers’ spending spree. O’Brien says:
I refer to the Treasurer’s claim in his previous answer he has a fiscal rule to control spend is to bank most of the upward revision in revenue. According to his own pre-lection budget, the upward revision in revenue was $8 billion. He plans to blow the lot. Plus, another $26 bn.
Albanese says he’s “insist” Chalmers keeps doing “great work”.
We have our first point of order for the day – O’Brien says the question was whether Albanese will “insist that his Treasurer introduces fiscal rules.” Milton Dick tells the PM to stay relevant.
Albanese says some similar lines, and then Jim Chalmers takes the mic – ending with this zinger:
We will stack up our record on responsible economic management against those opposite any day. And I hope that these questions continue. Because when I was told that the member for Fairfax gave a speech about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I confess – that the word Wonka was almost the word that came to mind.
A brief interjection here – this is possibly the most tame I have ever seen question time.
While one Labor backbencher was booted out, the opposition hasn’t made a single point of order.
It’s also meant minimal interjection or judgment from the usually very sassy speaker, Milton Dick.
Updated at 00.43 EDT
O’Brien and Chalmers exchange barbs on fiscal rules
Ted O’Brien changes the subject to the budget, and asks Jim Chalmers a short and sharp question:
Will the treasurer introduce quantifiable fiscal rules to contain his spending spree?
Chalmers says he’s “delighted” that O’Brien has asked this question and uses it to take a shot at him. Chalmers claims the three fiscal rules the opposition took to the election were:
Number one, higher taxes, number two, bigger deficits, number three, more debt.
We consider our fiscal rules before every budget, Mr Speaker. Those rules are important but what matters more than that are the outcomes.
Updated at 00.41 EDT
Melbourne backbencher booted as opposition again accuses Labor of copying
Back to the opposition benches, the new Grey MP, Tom Venning, says again that the government is copying the opposition’s housing policy. He says the opposition welcomes the vote in confidence of Coalition policy, but asks whether the PM will admit that Labor’s policies aren’t working.
Before Albanese can answer, we have our first booting of QT!
Tim Watts, a Melbourne backbencher gets thrown out of the chamber. Watts chuckles, and Dick says: “You might be laughing, but it’s not funny.”
Albanese argues again that the Coalition seems split on the issue because Andrew Bragg, the shadow housing minister, has called Labor’s announcements “crazy ideas”.
The member suggests that maybe his shadow housing minister was wrong or this was ambiguous, but it doesn’t sound ambiguous to me as a result of our announcement. Andrew Bragg said ‘we will work to try and stop these crazy ideas coming in to existence’ – that was actually his response.
Bragg has criticised the 5% deposit scheme for being not being income capped, and has said it means the children of billionaires will have access to the scheme.
Updated at 00.40 EDT
Wilkie asks government about ‘failing’ insurance industry
Andrew Wilkie gets the first question from the cross-bench this afternoon. He asks what the government is doing about the “failing” insurance industry:
Health insurance premiums are sky high but returns to policyholders are at rock bottom. While payments to private hospitals are in fact still so bad that many are in financial distress or closing. Meanwhile, for property insurance, premiums are going through the roof and vast areas are being declared uninsurable.
So what’s the government doing about this?
Daniel Mulino, the assistant treasurer, takes the call. He starts with property insurance, which he says was the subject of a parliamentary inquiry last term, resulting in 86 recommendations, many of which he claims are being acted on.
The general insurance code of conduct is now going to be approved by Asic … In addition, the general insurance code of conduct will be enforceable going forward once it is redesigned by the industry in consultation with other stakeholders. They are measures which … will make a real difference to consumers.
Updated at 00.30 EDT
Albanese bites back after Leys calls economic roundtable a ‘three-day talk fest’ that failed to offer relief
Sussan Ley is back at the mic and again calls the economic roundtable a “three-day talk fest”. She says it didn’t offer any real relief for Australians, and accuses the government of chasing hard-working Australians for their money by leaving the door open to increasing taxes.
Anthony Albanese lists through the government’s cost of living relief, including energy bill subsidies, increasing government-paid parental leave, pushing the Fair Work Commission to raise the minimum wage and cutting Hecs debts by 20%.
I find it extraordinary that we get asked a question in this place about cost of living and what assistance my government is giving. Because on the issue of tax, [which] was also raised … the stage 3 changes that we put in place to make sure all 14 million Australians got tax cuts, those opposite, including the leader of the opposition, said they should wind it back.
Then on March 25, this treasurer introduced tax cuts … [for] the year after. Those opposite not only voted against it, they said that they would introduce legislation into this parliament to increase the taxes for all 14 million Australians.
Updated at 00.24 EDT
It’s going to be a housing dominated QT today, because the first dixer from Josh Burns, the special envoy for homelessness, asks Albanese what the government is doing to support home ownership.
Cue the rehearsed talking points.
Updated at 00.15 EDT
Albanese says Ley ‘bold’ to claim credit for new housing policies as question time begins
It’s question time!
Sussan Ley starts it off, asking about the government’s housing policies announced over the weekend to pause the construction code and expand the 5% deposit scheme.
The opposition leader asks why it took a three-day “talk fest” to come up with two policies the Coalition had already come up with.*
*a note here: the policies are similar, but slightly different (the PM also had to explain this on morning media).
Albanese stands up and says Ley is “bold” to call the policies Coalition ideas. He then accuses the Coalition of working to oppose and abolish Labor’s housing programs, such as the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Right around the country, people are benefitting from the Housing Australia Future Fund, which will build social and affordable homes. They opposed it, like they opposed the Help to Buy program, which is about shared equity schemes. Now, on the increased home ownership with the 5% deposit, this is what Andrew Bragg, the shadow minister for housing, has had to say: ‘We will work to try and stop these crazy ideas coming into existence.’ That is what they’ve had to say.
Updated at 00.38 EDT
Education minister moves to legislate national code to address gender based violence on university campuses
Caitlin Cassidy
The education minister, Jason Clare, is moving to legislate a code for tertiary education institutions to better respond to, and prevent, gender based violence.
The legislation follows multiple student surveys in recent years, finding that an alarming number of students experienced sexual assault on campus.
The national higher education code was a recommendation from an action plan addressing gender-based violence in higher education, released last year. It will set rules for higher education and student accommodation providers to embed a whole-of-organisation approach to prevent and respond to gender based violence.
The latest Universities Australia national student safety survey, undertaken in 2021, found one in 6 students experienced sexual harassment since starting university, and one in 20 experienced sexual assault.
Last week, the peak higher education body confirmed it would hold another survey, to be released in 2026.
A report into consent laws, released in 2023, found the process of making complaints to universities and the tertiary regulator, TEQSA, and how complaints were subsequently dealt with, caused great trauma to victim-survivors of sexual violence.
Updated at 00.02 EDT
Penry Buckley
NSW planning minister: ‘collective responsibility’ to support housing development
Returning to NSW budget estimates, the planning minister, Paul Scully, has responded to a question about comments he made describing those who have objected to the government’s housing changes in their suburbs as “un-Sydney-like” and accused them of ignoring their “collective responsibility”:
I think collective responsibility is something we’ve got. We’ve got a situation where we’ve got geographic divides, social divides, and social exclusion … as a result of a sustained lack of building of homes in NSW, particularly in Sydney.
We haven’t faced a situation where every day thousands of people are being asked to travel from the west to the east largely, and provide services in the city, and in suburbs where they’ve largely got no chance of living in, unless we expand supply.
Every part of our community, whether it’s in and around Woollahra, in Wollongong, in West Wyalong or anywhere else … has a part of that responsibility.
The NSW government has not yet specified what proportion of the 10,000 homes slated for development around Woollahra and Edgecliff will be affordable.
Updated at 00.08 EDT
Housing Australia website back up after earlier crash
Earlier, we reported that Housing Australia’s website had crashed after the government announced an October start date for its 5% deposit scheme.
The website now appears to be working normally, touch wood.
Updated at 23.25 EDT
Labor and Coalition clash over net zero repeal bill – video
You can have a watch of some of that debate on the repeal net zero bill here:
‘Nationals want to party like it’s 1999’: Labor and LNP clash during net zero repeal debate – videoShare
Updated at 22.48 EDT
‘This is not Barnaby’s bill’ says Joyce on net zero repeal bill
Barnaby Joyce can’t get enough of the media, as he tries to undermine Australia’s climate targets.
He’s back on Sky News today, after the house briefly debated his bill to repeal the 2050 target this morning.
He says he’s happy to keep debating the bill during the time sectioned off in parliament to debate private members’ bills, if Labor also keeps putting its own MPs up to criticise it.
But he says the bill isn’t about him (despite commentary that the legislation will damage the leadership of both the Nationals’ David Littleproud and the Liberals’ Sussan Ley.)
It’s not about me, this is not Barnaby’s bill, this is a bill that I just happened to be the author [of].
Nationals member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, is seen during debate of the ‘Repeal Net Zero Bill 2025’ in the House of Representatives. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 22.45 EDT