What the House debated on 30 June 2026 — housing, online safety, MP suspension and 1 July cost-of-living changes

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the House debated on 30 June 2026 — housing, online safety, MP suspension and 1 July cost-of-living changes

The House of Representatives sat on Tuesday 30 June 2026 — the last sitting day before the 1 July changes to tax, wages, paid parental leave and superannuation took effect. The day was dominated by a fiery question time focused on housing affordability, the suspension of a Coalition MP for unparliamentary conduct, and debate on legislation to strengthen enforcement of the social media minimum age and modernise protections for major sporting events. Question time opened with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton asking the Housing Minister about first home buyers and negative equity in light of the budget's changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. Minister Clare O'Neil said Treasury modelling showed house prices would 'continue to grow over time but a little bit more slowly', by about two percentage points relative to no policy change, and that the reforms would result in 'around 75,000 additional owner-occupiers over the next decade'. The Prime Minister used a government question to preview the 1 July changes: a tax cut for 14 million workers, a 4.75 per cent award wage increase (6 per cent for minimum wage workers), paid parental leave extended to 26 weeks with superannuation, and payday superannuation commencing. The Treasurer fielded a pointed question from the Member for Flinders about his own past use of negative gearing, with the Speaker reluctantly allowing the question on the basis it touched on the Treasurer's portfolio responsibilities. Mr Chalmers responded that those opposite were becoming 'increasingly desperate and more than a little bit pathetic' and defended the budget changes as making the housing market 'fairer for everyone'. Questions about the Victorian CFMEU and the Big Build dominated the middle of question time. The Opposition Leader asked the Prime Minister whether Commonwealth taxpayer funds had gone to 'convicted criminal and underworld figure Mick Gatto or any associated companies'. Mr Albanese responded that within three weeks of becoming Labor leader he had expelled John Setka from the party, that the CFMEU had been excluded as a Labor affiliate and placed into administration, and that the Commonwealth had inserted specific integrity provisions into funding agreements with states — including requirements for fraud management plans, expanded conflicts-of-interest rules, and a mandatory register of approved industrial relations consultants. Tensions boiled over when the Member for Groom, Garth Hamilton, was named by the Speaker and suspended for 24 hours after an incident during question time. The Speaker described it as 'a new low' and 'severe disrespect to this House'. The suspension motion passed on a division. Immediately afterwards the Leader of the Opposition rose to make a personal explanation, denying claims by the Emergency Management Minister that he had impugned Rural Fire Service firefighters. Mr Dutton said his remarks at Kiandra related to National Parks mismanagement, not firefighters, and sought to table a 2003 Commonwealth report titled A Nation Charred. The House debated the Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2026. Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh moved a second reading amendment criticising the government's implementation of the under-16 social media ban, citing a University of Sydney study published in the British Medical Journal that found 85 per cent of under-16s were still accessing social media. Government speakers highlighted that more than five million underage accounts had been removed or restricted since 10 December 2025 and that the UK had announced it would follow Australia's model. The Member for Maribyrnong, a former educational and developmental psychologist, told the chamber 'these platforms are not public areas that happen to have a few teenagers in them — they are products that are brilliantly built, backed by billionaires and designed to get a hold of a person's attention and never let go.' The bill doubles maximum penalties to $99 million and gives the eSafety Commissioner power to compel documents from platforms and third-party age assurance providers. Independent MP for Curtin, Kate Chaney, while supporting the bill, used her speech to outline what she saw as essential design features for the government's promised digital duty of care, including a single overarching obligation rather than a list of specific duties, a threshold of 'harm' rather than 'serious harm', proper resourcing for the eSafety Commissioner, and inclusion of AI chatbots within the framework. She warned: 'In 15 years we don't want to be in the same position with AI that we are now in with social media.' The Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026 was also debated. The bill shifts the process for recognising major sporting events from primary legislation to a disallowable legislative instrument. The Coalition's Angie Bell opposed this change, arguing it traded off transparency by concentrating power in the executive. She also criticised the government's sports funding record, citing Australian Sports Commission CEO Kieren Perkins' evidence that approximately 2,000 athletes lacked certainty about their scholarships beyond 30 June 2026, and that $182 million had been cut from grassroots sports programs including Sporting Schools — a program that serves close to two million children. A Matter of Public Importance on 'the Government's failure to govern for older Australians' was raised by the Nationals. In other business, the House dealt with Senate amendments to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Reporting System Reform) Bill 2026 — establishing External Reporting Australia — and the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026. Question time also covered the Mitchells Causeway closure on the Great Western Highway, after-hours health care in rural areas, bowel cancer screening for young people (with Cancer Australia-funded research underway), veterans' allied health caps, and a milestone for the cheaper home battery policy — now one year old with over 456,000 Australian households participating.

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Evidence review

Housing prices and negative gearing dominate question time

The first questions of the day went to the Housing Minister, with the Opposition Leader asking how many first home buyers had fallen into negative equity since the budget. Minister Clare O'Neil cited Treasury modelling that the reforms would 'increase the owner-occupier share of the housing market, resulting in around 75,000 additional owner-occupiers over the next decade' and slow house price growth by about two percentage points.

The Prime Minister previewed the 1 July changes: a tax cut for every worker, a 4.75 per cent award wage increase (6 per cent for minimum wage earners, taking that to over $1,000 a week for the first time), paid parental leave extended to six months, and payday superannuation commencing. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said debt was 'now $200 billion lower than what we inherited'.

The shadow treasurer asked the Minister for Housing whether Treasury or APRA had provided advice on how many first home buyers would be pushed into negative equity. Minister O'Neil directed the opposition to the budget documents, quoting directly from the factsheet: 'The reduction in investor demand is expected to lead to a small and temporary slowing in house price growth, estimated to see prices grow by around 2 per cent less over a couple of years relative to no tax policy change.'

Evidence review

Member for Groom suspended from the House

The Speaker named and suspended the Member for Groom, Garth Hamilton, for 24 hours following an incident during question time. The Speaker told the chamber: 'A serious incident occurred during question time, and it has been brought to my attention what occurred. I'm deeply concerned and troubled by the incident. The member for Groom has shown severe disrespect to this House through his words and his actions.'

The suspension motion, moved by the Leader of the House Tony Burke, passed on a division. The Speaker said he hoped the member would apologise upon his return. Immediately after the suspension, the Opposition Leader made a personal explanation denying claims he had impugned Rural Fire Service firefighters, saying his earlier remarks referred to National Parks mismanagement in the lead-up to the 2003 Snowy Mountains fires.

Evidence review

Online safety enforcement bill debated

The Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2026 was the main legislative item of the day. The bill responds to the eSafety Commissioner's March 2026 compliance update, which found that too many children were still accessing platforms and that some companies appeared to allow underage users to try age checks repeatedly until they passed.

Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh moved a second reading amendment criticising the government's implementation, citing a British Medical Journal study finding 85 per cent of under-16s still accessing social media. Government speakers countered that more than five million underage accounts had been removed since 10 December 2025 and the UK had announced it would follow Australia's model.

Independent MP Kate Chaney outlined six design features she considered essential for the promised digital duty of care: a single overarching obligation, a 'harm' threshold rather than 'serious harm', proper eSafety Commissioner resourcing, strong enforcement measures, transparency requirements, and inclusion of AI models and chatbots.

Evidence review

Major sporting events protection and sports funding

The Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026 was debated. The bill would allow future major sporting events to be recognised by a disallowable legislative instrument rather than requiring an amendment to primary legislation.

Coalition MP Angie Bell opposed the change, arguing it traded transparency for administrative convenience: 'The government has not made a clear case as to why the parliament should lose transparency and concentrate powers into the executive.' She also criticised the government's sports funding, citing Australian Sports Commission CEO Kieren Perkins' evidence that about 2,000 athletes had no certainty their scholarships would continue beyond 30 June 2026, and that the $182 million cut to grassroots sports programs including Sporting Schools would affect close to two million children.

Evidence review

Older Australians, health and regional issues

A Matter of Public Importance raised by the Nationals' Darren Chester focused on 'the Government's failure to govern for older Australians'. Question time also covered after-hours health care in rural areas (Member for Indi raised the loss of after-hours funding in communities without a Medicare urgent care clinic), bowel cancer screening for young Australians (Member for Mayo highlighted Australia's world-leading rate of early-onset bowel cancer), and veterans' concerns about a proposed $5,000 annual cap on allied health services.

The Infrastructure Minister addressed the Mitchells Causeway closure on the Great Western Highway, confirming a contractor had been appointed and construction would begin in July, with the Commonwealth signalling support for assisting New South Wales once detailed costings were available.

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