Ms WELLS (Lilley) (12:40):Over the past five months, since being elected, I have listened to countless Lilley constituents who are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living continues to skyrocket. With stagnant wages, increasing rates of unstable employment, higher energy bills and growing housing stress, many Australians are looking to us for help to keep their heads above water.
In 2008 the then Labor government introduced the National Rental Affordability Scheme, with the vision of constructing 50,000 new residential buildings to increase the supply of affordable rental dwellings and reduce rental costs for low- and middle-income households. The scheme attracted private investment of approximately 24,000, and a couple survives on approximately $36,000. An income this low, without the ability to work, almost guarantees that pensioners will remain in poverty and be forced to trade off basic needs. Single women over 60 are particularly vulnerable, with 34 per cent of single women living in poverty by their 60th birthday. They deserve better. Australians deserve better than trying to keep their heads above water.
Housing policy experts are unanimous that bridging the NRAS funding gap is essential to improving housing affordability and securing better housing outcomes for all Australians. Failure to address the growing need for affordable housing now will only result in economic, social and infrastructure challenges in our future. On behalf of my constituents in Lilley and the two women on the north side of Brisbane who I've spoken about today in particular, I call on the government to stop taking their victory lap, to look up, to listen, to hear the urgency of these needs and to do more to improve housing affordability and secure better housing outcomes for all hardworking Australians.
