Asked about the Coalition’s plan […] and whether that meant some low-income Australians would have to accept substandard housing, Bragg told ABC radio: “Yes, definitely … it’s more important to have a house than to not have a house. And so, given the affordability crisis we have in the housing system, we need to just build more houses.”

A total non-sequitur. Yes living in a house is better, yes we need to build them. Why not build them to (or better than) the robust safety standards we have now?

Neo-liberalism's answer is: oppose spending any money to improve real people's lives. Unsafe housing is cheaper.

The truth: Australia issues Australian dollars any time they choose to. If high-quality, safe housing can be built by spending Australian dollars, the federal government can always choose to pay. No need to “find” the money anywhere, they can pass a bill to spend the money and it's there.

They just don't want to.