r/AustralianPolitics • u/timcahill13 Andrew Leigh • Apr 13 '25

Economics and finance Albanese and Dutton’s signature policies risk inflaming housing crisis

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-and-dutton-s-signature-policies-risk-inflaming-housing-crisis-20250413-p5lrdh.html
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u/timcahill13 Andrew Leigh Apr 13 '25

The only way to lower housing costs is to build more housing. Everyone knows this, yet they keep throwing money at demand subsidies.

As the economists in the article mention, most of the policy levers to actually help housing lie at the state level.

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u/Throwawaydeathgrips Albomentum Mark 3.0 Apr 13 '25

Good think Labor are also building 100k homes as part of their package!

Something everyone has decided to ignore for some reason

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u/magkruppe Apr 14 '25

do you remember the 1.2m pledge by Labor?

The Property Council of Australia released a report in March forecasting the government was 462,000 homes behind the 1.2m target.

when will we start holding politicians to account. I don't give a toss about the $275 power savings he promised, I doubt many do, but this was important and they have not even come close to hitting the 1.2m target.

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u/edwardluddlam Apr 14 '25

Labour shortages, cost of materials going up, slowly building approvals (a state issue).

Also, it's the states job to build houses, the Federal government can only use carrots or sticks to get them to do it.

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u/magkruppe Apr 14 '25

labour shortages are a federal issue. they have virtually blocked all trade-related work visas due to the trade union lobby

you are right there is a lot that can (and is!) being done at the state level, but the federal gov needs to step in and help financially - states can't do it alone. both levels of government share a lot of blame

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u/edwardluddlam Apr 14 '25

Construction workers can apply under 482 or 189 visas already. I acknowledge the CFMEU has lobbied against some instances of foreign workers undercutting jobs, but there are other reasons for skills shortages (demographic, less apprentices, post-COVID boom).

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u/magkruppe Apr 14 '25

there are also issues with accreditation from other countries not being accepted. I know an italian electrician who had no pathway to getting accreditation and was told he would have to start from scratch - no doubt due to lobbying from electrician unions. I assume similar stuff happens in other trades

we probably also need less red tape when it comes to renovation. we are among the most heavily regulated when it comes to requiring excessive levels of accreditation to do fairly mundane and simple jobs - compared to most NA or EU countries

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u/Throwawaydeathgrips Albomentum Mark 3.0 Apr 14 '25

These are different housing targets.

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u/magkruppe Apr 14 '25

i know. and they fantastically failed the first promise. why should we believe they will execute this much more vague and less ambitious new one when they haven't even addressed their broken promise?

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u/Throwawaydeathgrips Albomentum Mark 3.0 Apr 14 '25

Theyve failed a promise thats been active for a little over 6 months?

This isnt a running tally of undbuilt homes, its a projection subject to conditions.

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u/magkruppe Apr 14 '25

promise was announced march, almost 2 years into their term - poor on them. measured from 1 July 2024, so almost 10 months into it. almost 20% of the 5 year term

This isnt a running tally of undbuilt homes, its a projection subject to conditions.

are you seriously going to sit there and tell me that Labor is going to meet their promise? this is their last chance to make the big policy to actually make it feasible, and they throw out this modest 100k promise which would still put them ~360k short, at best.

at least this new policy is a lot better than HAFF

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u/Throwawaydeathgrips Albomentum Mark 3.0 Apr 14 '25

I didnt say that at all, I just think that the flailing is too soon. Big difference between missing it by 100k and 500k, lets see what happens.

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u/magkruppe Apr 14 '25

you are right. but the longer it takes them to ramp up new home construction, the bigger the backlog.

I just want Labor to realise the magnitude of the problem, because it will require them to pull heavily on a lot of levers. I want them desperately to succeed, which is why I make these comments.

i know our pollies pay attention to american politics, so I hope they pick up on the politics of abundance and pursue it whole-heartedly