‘8 years of no leadership’: Housing initiatives face uphill battle

Speaking on Channel 9’s Today Show last week (17 August), Julie Collins pointed to what she characterised as a lack of action from the former government as one of the reasons that the current cabinet is facing a backlog of housing issues to contend with.

“We’ve had nearly a decade of no federal leadership when it comes to housing and homelessness in this country,” Ms Collins said.

“We’ve been in there for a few months. We’re trying to step up to the plate and get moving … We’re trying to get some of the programs from our election commitments up and running as quickly as we can.”

Ms Collins was sure to note the headway that had been made already, including hosting the first housing ministers’ meeting in almost five years several weeks ago, with another planned for later in the year, during which time they intend to work on crafting the much-anticipated National Housing and Homelessness Plan.

Other housing initiatives promised prior to the election by the Albanese government include the national Help to Buy scheme, a regional first home buyers program and the establishment of a National Housing Supply and Affordability Council.

The housing minister noted, however, that not all matters could be settled through the simple allocation of time and money – parliamentary systems would also have to come into play.

“Some of [the government’s initiatives] do need legislation, so we need to work with crossbenchers to try and get those through the Houses of Parliament as quickly as possible. But unfortunately, these things do take time,” she said. 

“After eight years of no leadership when it comes to housing and homelessness, there’s a lot of work to be done and we’re doing it as quickly as we can.”

Ms Collins urged anyone at risk of homelessness to seek help from state and territory initiatives that offer short-term shelter, many of which are funded through the federal government’s National Housing and Homelessness Agreement.

However, despite the federal MP acknowledging these programs do great work, she admitted that there wouldn’t be much relief in sight until Australia was able to tackle its supply problem. 

“Ultimately it is an issue of supply and we need to get more homes on the ground as quickly as we can. And that’s what we’re working towards,” she said.

[Related: ACT government outlines housing plan]