Australian Government Does Sweet F*** A** During Housing Crisis
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We are in the midst of a housing crisis. A 1000 new migrants are coming into the country a day. Rents are sky rocketing due to the shortage of available housing. Australian government does sweet f*** a** during housing crisis. There is a bill before parliament that if passed may build 30 000 social housing properties over 5 years. This, however, is an emergency and governments are doing bugger all right now to alleviate it. It is not enough to promise better things for the future. We need swift action right now to meet the challenges of this unfolding crisis.
Housing Crisis Sees Rents Sky Rocket in Australia
More and more property investors have moved into the short term holiday rental sector looking for higher returns on their investment. There are some 300 000 properties available in this sector vs only around 50 000 for long term rentals Australia wide. The lack of oversight and controls in Australia around housing is startling. It speaks of years of government neglect and just letting the real estate market rip. Australian and state governments have been asleep at the wheel for decades on this score.
Australian New Arrivals Face Housing Shortage
The federal government has bowed to the pressure of employer groups and increased the influx of migration into the country. These employers have been complaining about shortages in the labour market following the pandemic. Now, we have the situation where there isn’t adequate housing levels for these new arrivals and our existing population. At the same time, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is raising interest rates at record rates to tip the economy into a recession to fight high levels of inflation. Thus, creating all the ingredients for a perfect storm of job losses and high unemployment, which will bring down inflation but at huge social costs.
Meanwhile, the timid Albanese federal government lacks the guts to respond to a mounting crisis with any real force. The lack of housing demands emergency powers to be instigated now. Price caps on rents need to be invoked to stop market forces bankrupting Australians. Immigration should not be allowed if housing for these new arrivals is not guaranteed. Otherwise, where are these people going to live and if they outbid locals the market will increase rents even further. If governments at federal and state level want high volumes of immigration then they have to house them and not just leave it to the market to sort out.
It is not good enough that these leaders sit back in their ivory towers and twiddle the knobs. Philip Lowe on his million dollar salary turning up the pressure on borrowers, which will stop new housing from being built and send the economy into recession. This means people suffering. Companies are recording record profits and I do not see any policies designed to prevent corporate profiteering via price gauging. The RBA only has one tool with which to beat the economy. The federal government needs to take real action to alleviate the housing crisis. If there is available housing not being used and sitting idle government should take temporary possession of such properties and allocate it for social housing and long term rentals until the crisis is alleviated. Why should wealthy people be able to sit on their hands while the poor suffer? This is a community and we all live in it together.
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