Good morning from Darwin where I’m moderating NT Executive Director Ruth Palmer’s pre-election leaders’ debate…of which more next week.
Forget the Cabinet reshuffle, we are watching the Olympics. Oh wait. We have been gifted a Federal Cabinet reshuffle! Invigorating.
In responding we have thanked Housing and Homelessness Minister Collins and welcomed Minister O’Neil. In so doing we’ve given a nod to the five policy levers beyond the Housing Australia Future Fund that Minister O’Neil can use to bridge the almost 300,000-home-gap we face by 2029 in pursuit of our clever national target of 1.2 million new homes.
We need a new funding boost on last-mile infrastructure for states and local governments to unlock new homes. All this as a part of systemic planning improvements for our cities.
We need more construction labour across the board to fill huge skills gaps across the country and a productivity boost including reforms to bring the construction division of the CFMEU back into the same legal system as other Australians.
We need to ensure that mortgages are not just for the already wealthy and to give young first-home buyers a better chance of accessing credit for housing.
We need fit-for-purpose build-to-rent housing legislation that can deliver more new homes than the previously announced 40,000 homes from the Housing Australia Future Fund.
We need best practice policy support on tax, targets and planning for high community benefit housing that provides more accommodation and services to seniors and students at less cost to the taxpayer. That means prioritising purpose-built student accommodation and more retirement living communities in cities and towns across the country.
We also now have a new CEO for Housing Australia, Scott Langford.
Housing Australia, the new National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC), plays a key role in promoting home ownership, increasing social and affordable housing supply and conducting research essential to meeting our agreed national targets.
The next five years will be critical as Housing Australia oversees the Housing Australia Future Fund, Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator, National Housing Infrastructure Facility and National Housing Accord Facility.
Congratulations to Scott and a hearty thank you to outgoing CEO Nathan Dal Bon for his leadership over the past five years.
Lastly, it was pleasing to see the elevation of the Cities portfolio into the Ministry. Jenny McAllister has been promoted to the role after a strong showing as Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy.
Partner with us
As the industry’s champion, we are here to help you tell your story.
We have just launched our new media kit to profile opportunities to partner with us in this very newsletter – Property Australia – and reach our audience of over 55,000 property professionals.
Find out how we can do that by downloading the new media kit.
Another great way to get involved with us is through our LinkedIn Page, which recently topped 80,000 followers.
We put together a video to celebrate, I hope you enjoy.
Next week.
Imagine you were a government who could build double the number of homes promised under your own welcome HAFF. Well now you can, as outlined here in The Australian.