The Nationals Senator for Queensland, Senator Barnaby Joyce, says the current housing affordability issue is again Mr Rudd focusing on an issue for which he will give commentary but not a solution.

“This is another example of an inquiry into a toothache where everyone is fully aware of the issue but is more interested in what the solution would be.

“There are houses which are fully affordable for first home buyers. My wife and I bought our first home: a 3 bedroom, weatherboard for $73 000 at Werris Creek.

“There are many areas in Australia that have affordable housing. The trick is to stimulate economic growth in those areas, to promote the prospect of full time reliable employment and the development of business in those areas.

“Zonal taxation, the capping of tax in depressed regional areas for the individual tax payer who works and lives in the area, is a proven mechanism to achieve this outcome.

“If Mr Rudd is telling first home owners there are certain suburbs where they won’t be able to afford their first home then he will probably be surprised to find they already knew that.

“What is an effective solution is to promote the movement of home buyers to where they can at least get a start in the housing market.

“Here is a list of some other towns and the price of houses which people should have the capacity to afford should a policy be put in place to facilitate their movement. The median price for a 3 bedroom home in:

Mt Morgan - $125 000
St George - $178 000
Hughenden - $85 000
Atherton - $290 000

“Just finally, like his statement about an overcentralised retail market extracting unreasonable prices, we again see Mr Rudd never give any indication of what legislation he will bring in to deal with the issue. This is another example of commentary without commitment.” Senator Joyce said.