Labor’s plan to help 40,000 low- and middle-income Australians into new homes was a “trivial” distraction from real solutions to boost housing affordability, former Reserve Bank official economist Peter Tulip said.

Dr Tulip, the chief economist for conservative think tank the Centre for Independent Studies, told a Senate committee he supported the Albanese government’s target of 1.2 million new homes in five years, but the Help to Buy element would push up prices by a small amount by stimulating demand.