With tax handouts for property investors, such as negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount left untouched in the budget, and no move to freeze or cap rental increases, Labor confirmed their status quo approach to the housing crisis.
The federal budget includes no new direct funding for public or community housing. It contained no measures for the 4 million renters who do not receive Commonwealth Rent Assistance who are facing the highest rents on record. The $1.9 billion to increase the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance, this will only go to 908,000 renters who will at most receive an extra $9.41 per week. There are 5.5 million adult renters. Crucially, this payment will not go to people who are experiencing homelessness, living in their cars or couchsurfing.
Quotes attributable to Max Chandler-Mather, Australian Greens spokesperson for housing and homelessness
“Property investors, developers and the banks will be celebrating Labor’s budget that dishes out $175 billion in tax handouts for property investors. But for renters, mortgage holders and first home buyers it is a massive kick in the teeth.”
“Millions of renters and first home buyers are living in housing hell, giving up on ever being able to buy a home, and Labor has offered them nothing.
“The vast majority of renters don’t receive Commonwealth Rent Assistance. But even for those that do, only a property investor Prime Minister would think $9 a week extra in rent assistance was a win for renters, when rents have gone up by $56 a week on average in the last year alone.
“This budget proves Labor remains ideologically opposed to public housing as a solution to the housing crisis, by refusing to invest any new ongoing money towards public housing.
“If we are going to solve this crisis the government needs to step in and start building hundreds of thousands of homes itself, which is why the Greens are proposing a government owned developer to do just that.
“If Labor was serious about tackling the housing crisis it would phase out the massive tax handouts for property investors denying millions of renters the chance to buy a home, and invest the savings in a mass build of public housing and coordinating a freeze and cap on rent increases.”
