Housing Affordability

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:48): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier aware of any capital city within Australia that is less affordable to rent in than Adelaide? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The Cotality Housing Affordability Report November 2025 highlights the proportion of income required to service rent in Adelaide is the highest of any capital city in the nation.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:48): We need more housing supply. We don't deny the challenges in the housing market. We don't deny the fact that there is a housing shortage around our country, which is why we are doing something about it and which is why we have a comprehensive strategy and a policy that we are delivering and acting upon. We are not formulating policies to create demand where there is already a lot: we are formulating policies to deliver the supply that is needed. We are not chasing votes in a desperate attempt at the next election: we are chasing genuine policy effort to make a difference on the ground. That's what we are doing, which is why—and don't take our word for it, just listen to what the MBA, the HIA and the BCA state. Just look at what the Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us around what jurisdiction in the nation is delivering the fastest rate of housing growth. It's us. That's what makes a difference.

We want to keep the drumbeat up. We do not sit around in meetings and say, 'Oh, that's going well, nothing more to do here.' In fact, the Minister for Housing knows exactly how these meetings go: we always want more. We are looking for the next policy. We are looking for the next effort to actually address the challenge that we have on our hands.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader, come on, that is getting really, really rowdy now.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We are actively making a difference where it is needed most, and we will continue to collaborate with all the various organisations around the country and all the government agencies that have the capacity to provide government advice and intelligence about the sorts of things that actually make a difference, not make the problem worse.

One of the reasons why we have a housing shortage in Australia is because governments of various political iterations over a long period of time, when they have seen a housing issue, they have actually made the problem worse by doing something that generates demand. Think about the first-home owner grants in the past. All that does is drive prices up. What we want to do is dry supply up.

No matter how many times we talk about the policy distinction that we see formulating in the lead-up to the election, no matter how many times we seem to talk about the fact that they are focused on demand and we are focused on supply, there seems to be a continued ignorance from the Liberal Party, the so-called party of the economy—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Wilful.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: A wilful ignorance—to basic economics. Economics 101: supply and demand. We have got a housing market that we would not characterise as being in equilibrium. We need to increase supply, not demand. So we are going to keep doing what it takes to make a difference on the ground.

The Leader of the Opposition talks about a jurisdictional analysis. Can I point to cities with different policy settings around the country? Yes, I can think of one city that has a particularly unique policy setting. There is one city in Australia that doesn't have stamp duty. It doesn't have stamp duty on residential properties. And guess what? That's also the same place in the country that is the only one that has a land tax on the family home. The only one.

The only place with no stamp duty is the only one with land tax on the family home. So we all know how that movie ends. Don't worry, it will be the people of South Australia who will be able to forecast that when they cast their ballot at the next election.