The Hon Clare O’Neil MP
Minister for Housing
Minister for Homelessness
Minister for Cities
The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP
Minister for Social Services
The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
Member for Fenner
Alicia Payne MP
Member for Canberra
David Smith MP
Member for Bean
Caitlin Tough MLA
ACT Minister for the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence
Member for Brindabella
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP PRESS CONFERENCE
YARRALUMLA, ACT
WEDNESDAY, 12 AUGUST 2026
SUBJECTS: $300 million investment in crisis accommodation; family and domestic violence crisis; 1.2 million housing target; 2026 Census
ALICIA PAYNE: Today we are announcing that there will be 19 new crisis accommodation homes across the ACT as part of a national investment into crisis accommodation, including around $16 million for the ACT.
This is just one of the things that we are doing across the board to ensure that Australians have access to the housing that they need, and this is a really important part of it, and I know one that Canberrans will be very pleased to hear about. So I'll hand over to Minister O'Neil.
CLARE O'NEIL: Actually, when we're going to hear from our ACT colleague first, so Andrew and David, do you want to say a few words?
ANDREW LEIGH: If we're going to end domestic and family violence, then blokes need to step up. We need to step up and speak out against domestic and family violence, and we also need to support important initiatives like this one: 448 dwellings across the country providing safe, secure places for women and children facing domestic and family violence to go in their moment of peril.
DAVID SMITH: This is a great announcement today that recognises that FDR happens everywhere right across the country and our responses need to reflect that. So in today's announcement we're providing housing right across the ACT, including my electorate of Bean.
CLARE O'NEIL: I'll go, Caitlin, and then we'll go to you, and then to you.
Okay. Good morning, everyone, and I'm really pleased to be with you here today, and I acknowledge my fantastic colleagues behind me who are joining the fight against the crisis of domestic violence that affects us right across Australia.
It is absolutely clear that Australian governments need to step up and do more about the crisis of domestic violence that affects women and children right around our country. Australian women tell us that one of the main reasons they do not leave a violent relationship is because they do not have stable housing to go to, and that should not be happening in a country like Australia.
That's why the Albanese Government is today announcing an investment of $300 million in new crisis homes for women and children right across the country. Over the life of these investments, this will help protect 22,000 Australian women and children.
In the ACT, there are five significant projects being invested in to the tune of about $17 million. This investment could not occur without the fantastic support of the Barr Labor Government here in the ACT, and we'll invite the Minister to speak a little bit more about their work on this project.
I want the Australian people to know that we're not just delivering for the short term here. These homes are part of an investment of 55,000 new social and affordable homes right across the country. We are tackling the housing crisis from every possible angle. We are building more homes for Australians, we're getting renters a better deal, and we're getting more and more Australians into home ownership.
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Too often people ask, "Why didn't she leave?" when we see a victim of domestic violence that's suffered the worst consequences. What we really should be asking is, "Where would she go? What help would be available?" Today, Clare O'Neil is answering that question with an incredible new investment right across the nation in building safe accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
We know that a lot of mothers experiencing domestic violence don't leave the family home because they don't want to make their kids homeless, they don't want to be sleeping in a car. By providing safe accommodation, we give victims of family and domestic violence a real option to leave, a real chance of safety, a place where they can be safe and rebuild their lives.
I want to congratulate Minister O'Neil on this investment and thank the Barr Government here in the ACT and the other governments around Australia that are participating in this historic investment.
CAITLIN TOUGH: Thank you. I'm Caitlin Tough, the ACT Minister for the Prevention of Family Domestic and Sexual Violence, and it is wonderful to be here this morning with my colleagues, Minister O'Neil and Minister Plibersek, announcing this new investment into housing for women and children escaping violence.
The ACT Labor Government is committed to more housing, including more social, public and affordable housing, and this is a way we will partner with the community sector to make sure that housing is available.
We know women are at their most vulnerable when it comes to leaving a domestic violence situation, so when a woman chooses to leave, she needs somewhere safe to be, and having that housing available is going to make a huge difference for women and for our community as a whole.
So I really welcome this announcement today and how that is going to make a huge difference in the lives of women and children in our community escaping violence. Thank you.
CLARE O'NEIL: Thanks, Caitlin, really appreciate that. We'll go to any questions.
JOURNALIST: Minister, the RBA yesterday warned that housing construction will probably slow down a combination of cooling prices and also worker shortages. So, is it time for the Government to reconsider its 1.2 million housing target?
CLARE O'NEIL: Look, ultimately we've got a housing crisis in Australia that's been building for 40 years, and I'm very fond of saying there's no silver bullet, but if there was one, it would be our need to build more homes for Australians.
Our government, after nine years of abject neglect, has stepped up and set a target with Premiers and leaders of our country right across Australia to work to build more homes. Now, that is a hugely ambitious target for the country to set. It would require us to build more homes than we've ever built in a single year and then do it for the four years that follow. But ambition and boldness is exactly what is needed to try to address the housing challenges our country faces.
For too long we've had the Commonwealth Government wash its hands of this problem and say that they're going to leave this up to the states. We have taken a different position. Yes, these targets are challenging, but targets drive change, and that's what we're seeing.
JOURNALIST: On change, the ANZ yesterday released a forecast saying there would be an up to 14.5 per cent drop in house – sorry, my mouth is frozen – house prices in Sydney, for example. Is that a correction in the market, and is that something you welcome?
CLARE O'NEIL: Look, a lot goes into driving house prices in Australia. In the long run, this is a question of supply and demand in the market. In the short run, the most important driver of what goes on for house prices is actually the movement of interest rates. Our government has made landmark housing taxation reforms in the Federal Budget to create new pathways for first home buyers across the country.
And I just remind you that we have seen home ownership rates start to fall through the floor for young people around Australia. They are not getting the home ownership opportunities that they deserve, and our government is standing up and fighting for them. We're doing it through the 5 per cent deposit program, 260,000 Australians in a home of their own with the backing of our government, and we're doing it through these landmark reforms that mean for the first time the scales are being tipped in favour of first home buyers, and that's a good thing for Australia.
JOURNALIST: So was this what the Budget was aiming for, a 14.5 per cent drop in house prices?
CLARE O'NEIL: So, I think if you return to the Budget documents, the Budget documents are really clear, and as the Press Gallery I think is very well aware now, there's a lot that goes into the movement of house prices in Australia, and the main driver of what changes from month to month is the movement of interest rates in Australia.
JOURNALIST: Is it a good thing?
CLARE O'NEIL: What the housing tax changes that we've done will do is create better home ownership opportunities for many people around our country. So the Budget goes through the impact on house prices, but I want to talk about the impact on first home buyers. 75,000 households, which are today stuck in a rent trap, will get into home ownership because of these changes, and we're creating a fairer housing market for every person in our country.
JOURNALIST: But we're not seeing, you know, home loan applications from first home owners, for example, go up; we're not seeing prices drop significantly in that kind of entry-level range; it's really sort of happening at the top. So doesn't it mean first home buyers aren't really better off at this moment?
CLARE O'NEIL: Well, the proof's in the pudding here. Our government has produced more first home buyers on average than any other government in Australian history. We're doing it partly through the 5 per cent deposit program, which has got 260,000 Australians into a home of their own. Find me a government program that has created that level of transformation for this many people in the short time that we have been in government. And the housing tax changes that were made in the Federal Budget are going to contribute to that.
The Treasury modelling shows us that 75,000 households which are today stuck in rent traps will get into a home of their own because of these changes. We do need to tilt the scales back in favour of first home buyers, and our government is not going to apologise for fighting to correct this broken system.
JOURNALIST: On another matter, the Federal Opposition wants the AFP to investigate some leaked correspondence between Australia and Japan over the Prime Minister's remarks about melons. Should the AFP investigate?
CLARE O'NEIL: Oh, look, the Liberals have completely lost the plot referring podcast comments to the Australian Federal Police. I mean, how ridiculous. We've got families at home who have got real problems, they've got problems paying their bills, they've got worries about their health, they've got worries about the quality of education in their kids' schools. That's what the Liberals are elected to come and debate here in Canberra, not put forward silly political stunts like this one.
JOURNALIST: But did the government, whether that be a politician or a staffer, actually leak that correspondence?
CLARE O'NEIL: Look, I'm not going to get into this. I would just say to you, this is an absolute stunt, and it was from the very beginning. Our government is universally focused on the things that matter to you at home: the issues you're having paying the bills, the issues you're having filling up the car, and we're not going to lose focus because the Liberals want to play parlour games.
JOURNALIST: Back on this issue here today, you've got the money to build this housing for women escaping
CLARE O'NEIL: Yeah.
JOURNALIST: ...getting accommodation. You still need to procure construction and procure services to run them. Do you have an aim where you want to see women and children moving into these homes?
CLARE O'NEIL: Yeah. So it's a really, really important question, and thank you so much for asking about family and domestic violence. We are making a big commitment of $300 million in investments in new housing for women and children who are fleeing homelessness.
We're delivering that housing in a range of ways, and part of that will be turn key developments, so new builds that we're purchasing that are already constructed. The reason that some of the funding will be delivered in this way is because of the urgency of the situation, and there will be women and children moving into some of this accommodation in the coming weeks, because we've chosen to deliver the program this way.
So about 70 per cent of this housing will be newly built because of this program, and about 30 per cent will be delivered by builders who are already in construction or have completed building those homes.
JOURNALIST: And Minister, the Coalition is said to reveal its kind of net overseas migration policy in a bit more detail today. When will we see the government's?
CLARE O'NEIL: Oh, look, this is just reheated Peter Dutton policies that failed at the last election, and anyone who's saying that we can resolve a 40 year old housing crisis through migration is absolutely wrong. Of course it's a piece of the puzzle, but the truth is the Liberals haven't had a sensible thing to say about housing for about 20 years now, and I don't think that's going to change today.
JOURNALIST: We're wanting Minister Plibersek on this as well. Can you explain what the hand gestures were that the Prime Minister was making in front of his chest? To both of you, like, it's
TANYA PLIBERSEK: No, I've said all I'm going to say on this on Monday. We are here talking about family and domestic violence, helping women out of homelessness. Maybe we should focus on the big issues.
JOURNALIST: But if it's being misinterpreted, what did he mean by that gesture?
CLARE O'NEIL: Respectful of your question, but Tanya said what she wants to say, and I agree.
JOURNALIST: So should he apologise then?
CLARE O'NEIL: We're here to talk about family and domestic violence, and I'm really respectful of your question, but we've said what we're going to say about it.
JOURNALIST: But should he apologise, just simply.
CLARE O'NEIL: Any other questions?
JOURNALIST: Should he apologise for that?
CLARE O'NEIL: Any other questions?
JOURNALIST: One to Assistant Minister Leigh, if I may.
CLARE O'NEIL: Sure.
JOURNALIST: Just quickly, Census last night. What are you you know, are you pleased with the responses, the number of responses we've had from people? Anything you want to say about the Census?
ANDREW LEIGH: My political career is basically [indistinct]. Look, it's a great opportunity just to say thanks to David Gruen and the Census team. Last night Census ran smoothly.
At its peak, the Australian Bureau of Statistics was processing 200 Census applications per second. The system ran smoothly, and that's thanks to the very careful work that the Bureau of Statistics did with our cybersecurity agencies. Those agencies obviously fly below the radar, but they did a mountain of work in the lead up to the Census. There were unprecedented threats on the security of the Census, and the Census team and our cybersecurity agencies handled those very well.
We're expecting the initial results to come out in June of next year. But first and foremost, just like to thank the many Australians that filled out the Census and the ABS team that managed the process.
JOURNALIST: And one final question, sorry, for Ms Payne, if I may. I'll make it really quick. Negotiations underway over gambling reforms, what are you hoping to see?
ALICIA PAYNE: Well, as I said, you know, I'm really proud of the legislation that we brought forward, and I understand that there are negotiations on amendments that are happening at the moment and look forward to what that will deliver.
ENDS