E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SUNRISE
MONDAY, 22 JUNE 2026
Topics: Housing; Budget
NATALIE BARR: For their take, let's bring in Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals leader Matt Canavan. Morning to both of you. So, Sydney house prices have also come down an average of $75,000, that's in the past three months. Tanya, we know the government wants to make houses more affordable for young Australians. Are you happy with this price drop or do you want to see them fall further?
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Well, what we anticipate over time, it's not that house prices will continue to fall, but that they will grow more slowly. House prices have been growing too fast and that's meant that young Australians haven't been able to afford a home of their own. We, you know, we're parents. I've got three kids, Matt's got five, I know you've got a couple of kids as well, Nat. We want them to be able to afford a home of their own one day. And house prices have grown by about eight and a half times, like it used to be that the average house cost about four years of the average wage. Now it's about eight and a half years of the average wage. People just can't keep up with that because they've been competing with property investors for, for those houses. So, now we say you'll still be able to negatively gear if you're doing it at the moment on an existing property. If you want to negatively gear in the future, you'll have to invest in new build housing stock and that's what will give young Australians a chance to buy a home of their own. That and our 5 per cent deposit policy, which has helped well over a quarter of a million people into a home of their own.
BARR: You want them to grow more slowly, but in fact they're going down. So, you're happy with that? How far do you want them to go down?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, what we expect over time is that they'll grow more slowly and they'll remain more affordable. And but, that’s really important-
BARR: But grow more slowly is still going up, but they're going down to go down further. Do you want them to go down further?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: It depends which city you're looking at and that's not really-- it's not a matter of--
BARR: Well, I don't think they're going up anywhere except slightly in Perth and slightly in--
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, they're going up slightly in different cities. And that's actually a slow growth, moderate growth that people can keep up with. That's what we expect will happen over time.
BARR: They’re still so high, young people can't afford them. So, if they go up any more, young people still can't afford them, can they?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, that's why we've also got our 5 per cent deposit policy, which has helped well over a quarter of a million households into a home of their own now. It's why we've got a $47 billion package where we're, for example, working with the states and territories and local government to provide the infrastructure that we need in new housing estates to make those homes more affordable. It's why we're working so closely with state governments for them to reform their planning systems, because we know that at local government level and state government level, that's where a lot of the delays are and that's where a lot of the costs are. So, it's not one thing that we're doing, we're making housing more affordable in a range of different ways. Because in Australia, where people can afford to own their own home, that is a real fundamental part of our vision.
BARR: Yeah look, everyone wants, look, I think we just, everyone wants young kids to be able to afford their own home, like-
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, do they? Then why are the Liberals voting against it? You know, we're actually making changes.
MATT CANAVAN: I can answer that.
BARR: Let's go to Matt. Yeah, there is some support for the drop in prices.
MATT CANAVAN: I can answer that.
BARR: A survey in the Sydney Morning Herald shows 54 per cent of voters back some level of lower house prices. Do you want house prices to drop, Matt? Or as Tanya said, do you want growth to become slower?
CANAVAN: We've got to make them more affordable. And look, I feel sorry for Tanya. She's not the author of this Budget mess and she's doing her best there to defend it, Nat. But what we need to do is make some homes more affordable, so the price we see is just the average price. I don't want to see house prices fall across the economy, but I want to see house prices at the lower end of the market with more supply, more affordable housing and more affordable locations increase. That doesn't necessarily mean that people who own existing houses see their prices fall. But what this government has engineered is an economic crash, a crash in economic confidence, which is seeing auction rates at record lows. This budget by Jim Chalmers has effectively driven our economy, like Thelma and Louise, over a cliff, and it's falling down at a rapid rate. Now, the government needs to do something to restore confidence. They ripped up half their Budget last week. That's not enough. I mean everyone wants to fire the liar, but what we've really got to do is drop the flop. Jim Chalmers budget is a total flop. The Prime Minister should sack him. Get someone in there who actually can come up with an economic plan for our country. Because the biggest problem with what's going on in the last few months is that confidence is now cratering, and that hurts our entire economy. And yes, that will lower house prices but lots of us will be left without a job as well. And that's not good for everybody.
BARR: Matt, is that the One Nation phrase, "fire the liar", are you copying?
CANAVAN: No. Well, I don't care what it is. I want to get rid of this government because they are hopeless.
BARR: So you're adopting it?
CANAVAN: Under this government we've seen real wages drop back to 2011 levels. That's what's stopping our children being able to afford a home.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Why doesn't Matt tell us what he would do on housing affordability?
CANAVAN: Under this government, productivity has fallen for the first time in over a four year period ever. It's never happened. They did set one record, I’ll give them that-
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No solutions from Matt.
BARR: Just clarifying, Matt, are you sharing notes with One Nation?
CANAVAN: Sorry.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, but no solutions, I mean that’s the other thing he’s got in common with One Nation.
CANAVAN: I just want to see this government go. I'll work with anybody. I’ll work with anybody guys, I’ll work with anybody to get rid of this terrible government. But we should drop the flop. This guy, this Treasurer should go.
BARR: Drop them, okay. Matt, can I just clarify: so, you want some areas of the house market to fall. Is that like the lower market? Like under 100, under 1.5 million say? So people can afford it?
CANAVAN: It's not about them falling; it's about making sure the distribution of housing--
BARR: So you don't want house prices to fall?
CANAVAN: No, I don't want to see, because that's the most important asset and Australians balance sheet. But we can make housing more affordable, more. If you create more houses, if you create more supply.
BARR: So, how are they going to create more supply?
CANAVAN: Because if you bring on more properties at the lower end of the market, there'll be more housing available.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: But how, Matt? Tell us how [inaudible] --
BARR: [Inaudible] the laws of supply and demand in have basic economics say more supply--
CANAVAN: Everybody doesn't have to pay--
BARR: The market will drop. There'll be, the prices will go down.
CANAVAN: Everybody doesn't—
BARR: Don’t they?
CANAVAN: But then there are other things. Yes, but Nat, then you need an economy that's strong and that will lift prices for everybody as well in those upper end of the market. Right. So, you can, you can have an economy where all boats rise as long as you have a government that has an economic plan to lift productivity, to increase wealth—
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: But what’s your plan? [inaudible]
CANAVAN: --and economic growth. One of the worst parts of the budget is there's no--
BARR: [Inaudible] so just to be clear, neither side wants house prices in first homeowner categories to go down. Tanya, you don't?
CANAVAN: I want to see more housing at that affordable part of the market. The problem is the, the problem is there's not those--
BARR: But at the same price.
CANAVAN: --there's not those houses available for those first home buyers.
BARR: But at the same price? So, if you can't afford a house now, you won't be able to afford a house if there's more in the market. Unless they go down.
CANAVAN: Well, yeah, yeah.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: So, the real difference, Nat-
CANAVAN: Well, as you're--
BARR: Sorry, Matt, continue.
CANAVAN: So, who do you want--
BARR: Matt, if you just want more houses available, Matt, you want more houses available in the lower end of the market, but you want them at the same price and as they are today?
CANAVAN: Well, those, if those prices are low enough, that will be affordable for Australians, particularly if we have a strong economy and a government with a plan to grow that economy. This government doesn't have a plan. There's no economic plan for economic growth. There’s no plan to lift productivity growth.
BARR: Okay so I think we got that. Yeah, but-
CANAVAN: We have the lowest productivity growth record in history. In our history.
BARR: Yep.
CANAVAN: And the government has no plan for that.
BARR: Okay. So, the same price as they are today.
CANAVAN: That's the fundamental problem in our economy.
BARR: Tanya, last word for you.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, last word, same thing from Matt. He's voting against more affordable housing. He's voting against tax cuts for Australian workers, 13 million of them in the legislation.
CANAVAN: No we're not. That is a total lie. That is a total lie.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah you are. You're going to vote against that in the Senate.
CANAVAN: People are sick of these lies. You lie all the time Tanya.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Are you going to vote for the tax cuts, are you? You're going to vote for the housing changes and the tax cuts?
CANAVAN: We are separating those bill, those parts of the bills and voting for them. You know that. You know that. People are sick and tired of the rubbish. It's just spin from you guys.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Alright, we’ll see. We’ll see whether this gets through the Senate but-
CANAVAN: Totally. We are voting for those tax cuts, but--
BARR: We'll see if the bill can be separated and if you can vote for either one.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Matt has no plan for housing. He's going to do what he did at the last election, vote against affordable housing and vote against tax cuts for Australian workers. You watch that.
BARR: Ok. We'll see if that bill can be separated. Thank you very much. I'm not sure how clear that was about the housing, though. Thank you. We'll see you next week.
ENDS
