Although I'm really not sure that the parliament has been waiting with bated breath to hear from a baby boomer about housing, accessing housing is a major concern for my constituents. Despite rapid development in my electorate over the years, being able to find secure, affordable housing remains a huge challenge. As a paediatrician, nothing is more disheartening than to see families have to frequently uproot their children from schools to move because the owner of the house they were renting wanted to sell it or move in or because the house wasn't big enough for an expanding family. It is very disheartening. That's why I'm very proud of our government's efforts to provide better housing opportunities for Australians, as it is providing real outcomes for those trying to get into the housing market in Macarthur and electorates way beyond.

Since Labor came into government in May 2022, after 10 years of the coalition's neglect of the housing situation and putting of barriers in place in front of people who were looking for housing, over 870 households in Macarthur have participated in our Home Guarantee Scheme, equating to almost 2,000 individuals. This means almost 2,000 people have been able to start the exciting next chapter of their lives—homeownership in a secure manner—which is not only great for them but great for our communities, and it's great for our kids to continue to thrive.

Housing affordability has long been an issue. We saw the coalition not only do very little in their 10 years of government but actively work against the government in the last term when it was trying to provide adequate housing solutions. Housing affordability has been an issue for many years. When those opposite were in government, whilst they spruiked their grand plans, nothing happened. It must have been a very light tackle when they said they were tackling this issue in previous governments, because the issue only continued to get worse. They voted against the Help to Buy scheme that we advocated and promised in fact to abolish the scheme. Those opposite have a really poor track record on housing affordability and accessibility in New South Wales at both the federal and state levels, whereas our government has grabbed the issue and run with it since coming into government in 2022.

I am proud that our government is the boldest and most ambitious Australian government on housing since the postwar period. Our $43 billion agenda is focused on three things: (1) building more homes; (2) making it easier to rent and making it more stable to rent; and (3) making it easier to buy. Since being elected, our housing policies have made a real difference to many Australians. Over 180,000 Australians have bought their first home with our five per cent deposit scheme. On average, there are 6,000 more first home buyer loans a year under our government than there were during the coalition's previous period in government. One million households have received a nearly 50 per cent increase in rent assistance, 500,000 homes have been built since we came to office, new housing approvals are up 30 per cent, and construction costs have stabilised after skyrocketing under the previous coalition government. We've got 28,000 social and affordable homes, supported by our government, in planning and under construction. We know that the long-term solution to address the housing crisis in our country is to build more homes, in terms of both social housing and housing that people can afford to buy. Our plan for five per cent deposits is helping Australians gain homeownership even sooner by slashing the amount of time required to save for a deposit. This is very important for young families and the families in my electorate that I've looked after for many years. Even better, we're delivering this three months earlier than we previously announced, meaning it will now start from 1 October.

As I said earlier, this housing crisis was not created overnight, and it sadly won't be fixed overnight. However, this is a real policy that will deliver real progress in our government's fight for achieving better housing affordability outcomes for all Australians. With our five per cent deposit policy, there are no income limits or limits on places, and there are house price caps that better reflect the cost of homes across Australia. Five per cent deposits will cut years off the time you need to save for a deposit, saving thousands in lenders mortgage insurance and rental payments over time and getting you into your own home much sooner—really important for the young families in my electorate of Macarthur and around Australia. It bothers me greatly to see my constituents, of all ages, struggling to get into the housing market. That includes older Australians as well as young families. There are families with parents who are in their 30s or 40s who are still saving to buy their first home. Our schemes will help that and will help it significantly. I truly hope that people across the age spectrum take advantage of the scheme.

Under this program, a first home buyer could take up to eight years off the time it takes to save for a deposit on the median $844,000 home in Macarthur. On the way, they could save about $34,000 in mortgage insurance and could pay up to a quarter of a million dollars towards their own loan rather than paying rent. The median home price in Australia today is $844,000. Five per cent of this is around $42,000. The last time $42,000 covered the 20 per cent deposit for the median home was around 2002, more than 20 years ago. That shows you the scope of this change. That's what good governments do. They see the challenge, and they try to correct it. I congratulate Clare O'Neil, the Minister for Housing, for the amount of hard work and thought that she's put into this process. It is a really important change and something that will help families whose kids I've looked after for almost half a century get into their homes earlier.

We're building more homes. We've increased rent supports, as well, and we're making it easier to access the housing market across the country. From the disadvantaged electorates in rural and regional areas to outer metropolitan areas like my own electorate of Macarthur and around the country in every state and territory in Australia, that's really important. I'm really proud to be part of this process. This will not only make the housing situation better for young families but create stability in the housing market. It means kids' schooling will be stable. As a paediatrician, I'll stop having to do the process of applying to different schools all the time for support packages for kids with disabilities who have to move all the time. It will really make things a lot better for young families and older people across the age spectrum in all our electorates. As I said, I'm really proud to be part of this, and I congratulate the housing minister.

I think that those opposite, in the coalition, need to think really hard about why they lost so many electorates around the country. Part of it was housing policy. No matter how much they try and talk themselves up as financial managers and being more prudent et cetera, they clearly have not shown that expertise in housing. They had 10 years of a deteriorating housing market in Australia to do something about it, and they did virtually nothing. That put large numbers of Australian families at a huge disadvantage, and now we're trying to play catch-up. Whilst it is hard, the housing minister, Clare O'Neil, has done a wonderful job at improving housing affordability in Australia across the age spectrum and across the electorate spectrum. This has made things a lot better for those families and for those young people. In the future, it will also mean our younger people will find housing affordability better. This measure is part of what Australia is getting from the Albanese government: improved lifestyle, improved affordability and reduced costs across the housing market and the cost-of-living issues, which we are doing to make life better for the families that I care for. I congratulate the minister, and I commend this bill to the House.