Rental reform
Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (16:00): New modelling from the independent Parliamentary Budget Office shows that if rents keep rising at the same rate as in the last few years, it will take the average renter 66 years to save for a house deposit – 66 years to save for their first home deposit. How outrageous is that? What kind of society are we living in when it takes someone 66 years to save for their first home? Consider a 15-year-old today. They have just got their first job. A 15-year-old will have to spend 66 years working to save for a house deposit. They will not be able to put a deposit on their first home until they are 81 years old. This is simply ridiculous. There is something we could do about it though. Rents are completely out of control. It is the start of a new year. People should be excited about sending their kids off to school and starting back at work or study. Instead people are worried about whether they are going to still have a home if their landlord jacks up the rent one more time – they might get evicted into homelessness. We have this situation in Victoria because unlimited rent rises are still legal.
Members interjecting.
Ellen SANDELL: Members of the Labor Party are saying that is not true. It is true. Unlimited rent rises should be illegal, though, shouldn’t they? It should be illegal to jack up the rent so much that it evicts someone into homelessness. The Labor government could do something about this. We could freeze and cap rents now.