Senate candidates Zed Seselja, Katy Gallagher and Tjanara Goreng Goreng discuss housing affordability at federal election debate

Liberal senator Zed Seselja, Labor senator Katy Gallagher and Greens' lead candidate Tjanara Goreng Goreng shared the stage to debate property policies ahead of the federal election.

While housing affordability was a key item of discussion, details were scarce on how supply would be addressed in the ACT and across Australia.

Senator Seselja said a re-elected Coalition government would look to release Commonwealth land into the market, including sites in Ginninderra and Belconnen.

"We've seen large examples of that in some of our major cities, there's some pretty large Commonwealth holdings and that's true here in the ACT where we hold hundreds of hectares of surplus CSIRO land, and so there's great opportunities there," he said.

Senator Seselja also took aim at the ACT government for restricting land release and prioritising units over houses.

"We are facing a serious land squeeze and it is deliberate and I think it's a policy that is putting a lot of pressure on both homebuyers and renters," he said.

Senator Gallagher said a federal Labor government would address housing from "homelessness all the way through to home ownership".

"I think where we would be different is that we would, through a housing minister, commit to this national housing strategy, drive it, try and draw the states and territories together to deliver some outcomes," she said.

"But it's not just about supply, it's also about meeting the needs of different population groups along that housing spectrum."

Senator Gallagher said increasing housing for essential workers to live closer to their workplaces was also a key issue to be addressed by the commonwealth.

Dr Goreng Goreng said Australia's housing plan must be holistic and incorporate both state and federal governments.

"Because when we change government every three or four years all the plans get changed because the party is different, or this is different, or that's different. We actually have to think about this in a bit more of a transformative way," she said.

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Earlier, Dr Goreng Goreng outlined the Greens' plan to build one million publicly owned, affordable and sustainable homes and 125,000 affordable rental homes to enable frontline workers to live closer to where they work.

Both Labor and Liberal governments have previously proposed to expand the existing federal home guarantee scheme. The program allows first home buyers to purchase a home with a 5 per cent deposit and single parents with a 2 per cent deposit, without paying lenders' mortgage insurance.

Under the increased price thresholds announced last week, only 31.4 per cent of properties in the ACT are eligible, according to CoreLogic data.

Industry groups have welcomed increased thresholds for the scheme, but say supply must be addressed to alleviate housing affordability pressures.

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