Senator Andrew Bragg has been named as Australia’s new shadow housing minister, charged with holding the government’s housing agenda to account and selling the opposition’s plan to fix the housing crunch.
The new move came as opposition leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud announced a new shadow cabinet in Canberra on Wednesday.
“As shadow housing minister, Andrew will ensure that housing policy is at the heart of our economic agenda,” Ms Ley said.
Mr Bragg has picked up the top opposition housing role after the Coalition’s previous shadow minister and former housing minister, Michael Sukkar, lost his seat in the May 3 election.
Mr Bragg is a Liberal Party senator who was elected to the senate for NSW in 2019, having served as the shadow assistant minister for home ownership since 2024. He will also serve as shadow productivity and deregulation minister.
“Congratulations to Senator Andrew Bragg on his appointments to the productivity, deregulation and housing portfolios, areas in which he is well versed,” Property Council chief executive Mike Zorbas said.
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Senator Andrew Bragg has been appointed as the opposition’s new shadow housing minister. Picture: supplied
“The property industry is dealing with slow federal environmental approvals, and as a nation we are building half as many homes per hour worked than we did 30 years ago.”
It comes after weeks of turmoil following the Coalition’s election beating earlier this month, as the opposition lost even more seats while the government strengthened its seat majority.
The new shadow housing minister will face a challenging task, trying to hold the federal government accountable as it continues to roll out its housing agenda.
The Coalition’s former housing minister and shadow housing minister Michael Sukkar lost his seat at the last election. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty
The federal government has committed about $43 billion towards its housing agenda since it came to power, which it says has focused on building more homes and improving home ownership rates.
At the same time, Mr Bragg will have to look at the Coalition’s own housing plan and why it didn’t convince more voters in the recent election.
The Coalition’s housing plan is likely to come under review after the opposition leader pledged to assess all of its policies following the poll defeat.
The Coalition took a range of housing promises to the May 3 election, including its bold plan to allow first-home buyers of newly built homes to claim a tax deduction on mortgage interest payments.
It wanted to allow buyers to dip into their superannuation to buy their first home and pledged to ease home lending rules.
To boost housing supply, the opposition promised to speed up the housing development approval process and committed $5 billion towards housing infrastructure.
The Coalition wanted to freeze any further changes to the National Construction Code for 10 years and cut overseas migration in a move it said would take the pressure off the housing market.
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