Housing Affordability

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:43): My question is to the Premier. Is Adelaide the sixth least affordable city in the world in which to buy a home? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The Demographia International Housing Affordability report, released in May 2025, declared Adelaide as the sixth least affordable city in the world.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:43): The South Australian economy is doing some of the best it has ever done in its history. The South Australian economy now results in our city and our state being more desirable to live in than what was the case four years ago. In no small part, that is a function of the fact that this government has been disciplined—united—in making sure that we focus on growing prosperity, we improve wages and we see more jobs in South Australia. As a result, people want to live here, young people want to stay here, and that is why we are seeing a substantial uplift in demand for housing in our state.

When you've got a set of circumstances where demand for housing is on the up, you need to have a government to do something about it. That's why when demand is high we focus on supply. The other mob want to make demand even worse in South Australia. You focus on creating demand where we don't need it. We focus on delivering on supply where we need it most.

The Leader of the Opposition recounts statistics that speak to the fact that we are more liberal than we have been in the past. We are focused on delivering housing supply, and I am very grateful that since we outlined our Housing Roadmap, since we released the land, since we got the code amendments happening, since we got the water infrastructure in the ground, since we moved the urban growth boundary, since we stopped the public housing sell-off, since we ensured that government did not look at strategic infill sites and sit on our hands, we actually got on and did something about it.

Since we started initiating all these policy efforts, we have gone from being below the national average in terms of new housing stock and growth in housing supply to becoming nation-leading. In fact, I am pleased to report to the house that we are going to see more new homes and houses completed this year than in any other year in the state's history. We are leaving our predecessors, Labor and Liberal governments, in our wake as we keep our foot on the accelerator to increase housing supply.

What does the opposition want to do about housing supply? They've got some really nifty ideas. They are going to remove stamp duty from existing homes. How many new homes does that create?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right and members on my left will stop the interjections.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The big winners out of the opposition's housing policy are vendors. Congratulations. The Leader of the Opposition is doing his level best to support vendors. Not only does any basic economic analysis demonstrate the futility of their policy but we've even got real estate experts now on the record condemning the abolition of stamp duty in the way that they have crafted it. It beggars belief.

So while those opposite spend time formulating policies to make the problem worse, we are going to continue to engage with the Housing Industry Association of Australia, the Master Builders Association of South Australia, we are going to engage with the Business Council of Australia so that they can tell us how to keep doing it. We are going to work with the Housing Trust to increase public housing stock while you try to reformulate a way to deliver your sell-off. These are the things that are making a difference. Our state is more desirable to live in than ever before and we have more housing supply on the way than ever before, and that is the difference between a united government and a divided rabble.

The SPEAKER: Okay, it's all getting a little rowdy in here, particularly the member for Flinders.

An honourable member: Chuck him out, sir.

The SPEAKER: I don't want to chuck him out; it's the last day. Member for Morphett, you were getting a bit rowdy as well. I will tell you who has been pretty good, it's the member for Chaffey. I reckon you have been going really well. He was the first person I ever chucked out and he sent me a text message that said, 'How about I come around to your office and have a celebratory beer at knock-off?' and I always appreciate that, member for Chaffey.