The Big Issue: How Labor’s getting on with housing

Housing’s a big issue for our nation – and for plenty of AWU members, it’s one of the biggest pressures on the weekly budget.

You’ve organised and worked hard for your pay rises. But are they being swallowed up by rising rents and house prices? Are you stuck with a long commute because living close to the job just isn’t affordable? Maybe you’ve even had to help a mate who’s struggling to keep a roof over their head.

You’re not alone. These pressures have been building for decades. Under the Albanese Labor Government, we’re focused on turning it around.

Labor’s plan is straightforward: build more homes, back first home buyers, and make renting fairer. We’ve worked with states, local councils and industry to set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. It’s ambitious – but that’s what’s needed to tackle a housing shortage this big.

We’re training more tradies through Free TAFE and delivering a $10,000 bonus for housing construction apprentices. We’re also backing modern building methods and cutting red tape to speed up approvals, including streamlining the National Construction Code – because construction workers should be out building homes, not buried in paperwork.

And we’re seeing progress. New home starts are already up more than 11 per cent compared to this time last year. Construction costs were increasing at 17 per cent when we came into government – now they’re below 2 per cent.

We’re rolling up our sleeves and building 55,000 social and affordable homes, after the Coalition built just 373 over a decade. For women and kids escaping domestic violence, and for key workers who need to live near their jobs, that makes a real difference. For first home buyers, we’ve uncapped the 5 per cent deposit scheme, helping more Australians get into their own place sooner – paying down their own mortgage, not someone else’s.

More than 230,000 Australians have accessed support since we came to office, including many AWU members. More first home buyers are entering the market each year under this government than under any on record.

There’s more to do. But the focus is clear: build more homes, back working people into home ownership, and make renting fairer.

For working families, housing should be affordable and within reach. That’s the job we’re getting on with.

The Hon Clare O’Neil MP is the Federal Member for Hotham, the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homeless and Minister for Cities. She is also a proud AWU member.