Australian Coalition pledges A$1.5bn for regional housing infrastructure and an 80-page building code

On 27 August 2026, Australia's opposition Coalition pledged to guarantee A$1.5 billion, 30 percent of its proposed A$5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund, for regional, rural and remote areas. The money would pay for roads, water, sewerage and power to turn land into homes. The Coalition says the whole fund would help unlock up to 400,000 homes nationally. Opposition leader Angus Taylor, Nationals leader Matt Canavan and shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg also pledged a scaled-back, 80-page National Construction Code, which they claim would cut up to A$70,000 from the cost of a new house.

The package pairs two supply-side levers: funding the enabling infrastructure that often holds up housing, and cutting the volume of building regulation. The open questions are which requirements beyond core safety standards would be cut, and how the claimed savings would be checked.