The housing affordability crisis has federal, state, and territory ministers coming together
The state, territory, and federal housing ministers met on Friday to develop a national response to the ongoing housing affordability crisis. Minister for Housing and for Homelessness Julie Collins MP convened the meeting as part of the government’s effort to establish a national housing and homelessness plan. She said they were committed to working collaboratively across all levels of government to improve access to safe and secure housing.
The ministers discussed their respective priorities, challenges, and housing strategies and advised how federal policy could “leverage their recent investments” in social and affordable housing, Collins said.
“I also reaffirmed our commitment to engage with states and territories, local government as well as key stakeholders, to help further design and implement our housing agenda,” she said. “Through national leadership, our government will maintain its strong focus on stable and affordable housing for all.”
The Albanese government’s housing reform agenda includes a $10 billion fund that will build 30,000 social and affordable properties in its first five years, a regional ‘First Home Buyer’ support scheme, the establishment of a national housing supply and affordability council, and a new national housing and homelessness plan.
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South Australia’s minister for housing and urban development, Nick Champion, praised the attention on housing affordability, The Guardian reported. Champion said the previous government “did not care about these issues at all”, pointing out that this was the first housing meeting in five years.
“There’s a challenge in affordable rental for what I would call working-class people and some might call essential workers,” he said. “We need national leadership, that much is obvious….
“Apartments, houses, private development – all of that takes time to come on to the market. This is not an easy issue to address in the short term.”
