We discuss my submission to the current Housing Affordability inquiry which the Federal Government is running at the moment.
We have been tracking the ranks of inquiries into the housing market and housing affordability over this time-frame and note the considerable duplication of effort from the many inquiries which have been undertaken, but without real change.
The issue is clouded by self-interest, misdirection, and short-term political agendas. As a recent report put it “The scale of the housing market in the Australian economy and the diffuse, often disconnected, spread of policy powers that address different aspects of this system make the Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant a perfect metaphor for our current predicament”
Access to housing should be regarded as a fundamental human right, not a commodity. Yet the reverse is the case.
The housing affordability issue is a complex and politically charged one, with a convenient separation of accountabilities between States (mainly supply-side issues such as land release, planning and zoning and building standards) and Federal where initiatives such as Homebuilder, and additional first-time buyer incentives have featured alongside the tax settings. There is in fact little joined-up thinking.
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