04/05/2023

By only guaranteeing each state and territory will get 1200 social and affordable homes over five years, if the Future Fund makes an adequate return, Labor has admitted today that their target of 30,000 social and affordable homes is likely to fall short by over 20,000 homes.

With the current shortage of 640,000 social and affordable homes due to increase by 75,000 homes over the next five years, this means Labor’s plan will likely see the shortage grow well past 700,000 homes. 

Lines attributable to Max Chandler-Mather MP:

In the context of a shortage of 640,000 social and affordable homes, this morning Labor cut the number of homes they hope to build from 30,000 to 9600 over five years, which isn’t even a certainty because they can’t guarantee a single cent of money will be spent on housing in any given year. 

Today the housing minister couldn’t even guarantee any houses would’ve been built last year when the Future Future made a loss - nothing’s changed with their dodgy Fund, it’s still a $10 billion gamble on the stock market that doesn’t guarantee a single dollar will be spent on housing and does nothing for renters. 

We have said repeatedly we are willing to negotiate on our calls for a freeze on rent increases, investing $5 billion a year in public and affordable housing and doubling rent assistance, but this morning Labor literally admitted their target of 30,000 homes is likely to miss by 20,000, which says they fundamentally don’t understand the scale of the crisis. 

What sort of Government is it that can guarantee billions of dollars for stadiums, submarines and tax cuts for politicians and billionaires, but can’t commit to a single dollar of guaranteed funding for public housing or give renters real relief? 

There are millions of people hurting right now, we don’t need a future plan for housing that gambles money on the stock market, we need a plan to invest billions of dollars right now in public and affordable housing and to freeze rent increases. 

The feedback from over 80% of people we've spoken to while doorknocking around the country has been very clear: don’t pass this plan until Labor agrees to invest billions of dollars in public and affordable housing and do something to give renters real and immediate relief - and the Greens won’t let these people down.