No homes, no funding: Simon Kennedy’s bold plan for more housing

NSW’s newest MP has a bold new plan to turbocharge Australia’s housing supply but councils and state governments are not going to be a fan.

Federal infrastructure funding handed out to states and local councils should be tied to how many houses they build and complete — NSW’s newest MP has proposed.

Simon Kennedy, the man who replaced former Prime Minister Scott Morrison in his seat Sutherland Shire seat Cook, has used his maiden speech in parliament to call for an overhaul of housing laws.

He pointed to concerning figures that show a family earning the average Australian household income, with a 10 per cent deposit and 6 per cent interest rate could still not afford to repay the mortgage on a median house in the suburb of Kurnell in his electorate.

“I believe the federal government should make states and councils compete for funding and allocate this funding based on their ability to quickly and cost effectively release land and approve housing,” Mr Kennedy told parliament.

Liberal Member for Cook Simon Kennedy with leader of the opposition Peter Dutton. Picture: Getty

“Federal infrastructure funding should be explicitly tied to housing completions.”

He also called on the Albanese government to offer to cover rent assistance in exchange for states redeveloping their public housing and providing pathways for public housing tenants to purchase their own homes.

Mr Kennedy used the speech to reinforce Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s calls for cutting migration saying it was masking Australia’s slowing economy.

“Currently the government will tell you the economy is growing, but record migration is being conveniently used to paper over the weakness of the Australian economy,” he said.

Member for Cook Simon Kennedy replaced former PM Scott Morrion in the southern Sydney seat. Picture: Jason Edwards

“Large corporates enjoy this unsustainable migration as it means more customers and more profits, even if they do nothing.

“But the truth of this growing economy is a little bit murkier. We have actually been in a percapita recession for a year.”

The father-of-two said the one area where ramped up migration should be exempted was the construction industry to allow more homes to be built.

“The one area we do need to dramatically increase the number of migrants, is in those with skills in construction-related industries,” he said.

“This would allow housing supply to catch up to population growth.”

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