Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will on Thursday deliver the coalition's reply to the government's 2024/25 budget.
"I will have something to say about housing and immigration tonight," he told 2GB Sydney.
"I also think security is very important because we live in an uncertain time."
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Peter Dutton (@peterduttonmp)
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the government had to balance housing supply and immigration.
"We are not seeing alignment between population growth in this country and our housing supply, and the victims of that is every Australian trying to rent a home, those trying to buy a home," Mr Taylor told reporters in Canberra.
"This is a danger to the aspiration of so many Australians to own their own home and to live that Australian dream of being able to raise a family in a home that they own in this great country."
A report from the government-appointed National Housing Supply and Affordability Council released in May found the housing crisis would worsen and that the Commonwealth would fall short of its goal to build 1.2 million homes by hundreds of thousands.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the budget offered support for the construction industry and increased Commonwealth rent assistance.
"You can't undo 10 years of neglect in a couple of years - it takes time to do that," he told ABC Radio.
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather said it sounded as if the Opposition leader was blaming the housing crisis on migrants.
Treasurer — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) @JEChalmers giving the traditional post-Budget Press Club address in Parliament this afternoon. A tax cut for every taxpayer and energy bill relief for every household. pic.twitter.com/6ivlMn6bKWMay 15, 2024
"It sounds like what we're going to see from Peter Dutton is more of the same from the coalition: scare tactics on immigration and racism," he told reporters in Canberra.
"Why is it, in the middle of every cost-of-living crisis we always see the rich and powerful ... try to blame the powerless?"
Mr Dutton is also expected to reject manufacturing subsidies worth billions of dollars in his budget reply.
Production tax credits worth $13.7 billion for hydrogen and critical minerals, the centrepiece of Labor's Future Made in Australia plan, will likely be opposed.
Mr Dutton said on Wednesday the coalition would support government spending of $3.5 billion for energy bill rebates, worth $300 for each household and $325 for an eligible small business in 2024/25.
But coalition frontbenchers have criticised the lack of means testing for the cost-of-living relief, questioning why those at the top end of town would also receive rebates.
The coalition has questioned why cost-of-living relief in Jim Chalmers' budget is not means tested. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
They lashed Labor for what they said was a failure to properly get to the heart of the issue - persistent inflation.
Energy companies would apply $75 credits to each quarterly power bill under the rebate scheme.
Economists have warned the budget spending could be inflationary and heap pressure on the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates higher for longer.
While Labor powers on with the renewable energy transition, Mr Dutton has said communities would be consulted about adopting nuclear energy.
He believes nuclear energy should play a central role in Australia's path to reducing emissions, with renewables also being a part of the nation's energy mix.
The coalition has also pushed for Australians to be allowed to withdraw up to 40 per cent of their retirement savings - to a maximum of $50,000 - to buy their first home.
The proposal has been criticised by economists and the superannuation industry, who said it would push up house prices, put retirees with mortgages at risk and would not benefit young Australians and renters.
21°C