Greens leader Adam Bandt and housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather say minor party will now support Housing Australia Future Fund
Greens leader Adam Bandt and housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather say minor party will now support Housing Australia Future Fund
Do you know how many god damn houses I could build with 10 billion dollars?
SO MANY FUCKING HOUSES, BECAUSE THEY’D ALL BE WELL-BUILT APARTMENTS.
Why do I feel like this is somehow going to achieve somewhere between diddly squat and fuck-all?
Yeah, it’s a small amount compared to what is actually needed. In the bill digest, it’s mentioned that government’s 2021 review of affordable housing estimated that “the number of social housing dwellings required over the 20 years from 2020 to 2040 would be 614,000, plus 277,000 affordable housing dwellings. It estimated the cost of closing this shortfall at $290 billion.”
That said, the Greens’ pressure on the negotiations has definitely improved the proposal. The first reading of the bill mentioned that the $10B commitment was just going to sent to the government’s investment fund and that withdrawals would be capped at $500m per year. That means that Labor’s original plan was for the $10B to be spread over 20 years. Compare this to the $290b estimate of what the country actually needs over the next 20 years and it’s clear that Labor only ever wanted to fix 3.4% of the problem.
This is not a problem that can be spread over 20 years. People are homeless NOW. They’re hungry NOW. Hungry people don’t stay hungry for long.
Already break-ins are at a point that normal people are ready to kill. They don’t have 20 years to fix this shit; they will be eaten alive in their own homes before then and they will deserve it.
We need drastic overhaul of how we do our zoning laws.
If I were made dictator-mayor of my city (Brisbane), the first thing I’d do is eliminate all low-density residential (LDR) zoning. It would all be replaced with LMR (low-medium density residential), which allows up to 3 storeys for townhouses and apartments.
We need overhaul at the state and federal levels as well. Much, much more publicly-owned housing. Better protections for tenants. Things like levies on empty or potentially even under-occupied homes. A sensible approach to public and active transport, and more public spaces (parks, pools, etc.) to make living in these higher-density environments more comfortable and feasible. But the first thing I’d do is simply allow people by right to build medium density housing on the land they own. Take that control out of the huge developers who can lobby for 40 storey skyscrapers in the inner city and spread it out.
I like NSW governments policy. Highrise depends on infrastructure and not how far it is from the CBD. But it is still not good enough.
We have 220m+ in Parramatta which is 20km from CBD and from what I understand the application for it to be higher was denied because it was too close to the airport.
Macquarie Park, Rhodes are new suburbs with 150m+ (definition for a skyscraper). Many others are getting 100m+, Olympic Park, Liverpool etc.
So it is quite spread out already. Even places very far away from Sydney like Penrith, Rouse Hill, Edmondson Park and Leppington will be zoned for high rise.
But we need to overhaul the zoning laws for the missing middle. In Sydney Bankstown to Marrickville and Revesby to Turella should all be up for 100m towers or maximum allowed due to proximity to airport.