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A Greens MP has blasted Labor’s “bold” budget plan to build one million affordable homes over five years as “bulls**t”.
In his first budget on Tuesday night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled a new “housing accord” which aims to address the housing affordability crisis by dramatically accelerating the construction of new homes across the country. he accord, which was one of the centrepiece announcements in Tuesday night’s federal budget, sets an “initial, aspirational” target of getting a million affordable and “well-located” homes built over a five-year period, starting in 2024.
Most of the money is supposed to come from the private sector, with governments at state, federal and local level making it easier for investors by expediting their zoning, planning and land release processes. The ambition of this accord is big and it’s bold — an aspiration to build one million new, well-located homes over five years from 2024,” Dr Chalmers said in his speech.
“Most of this supply needs to come from the market, not the government. But there’s a role for government, and we intend to play a leading role by co-ordinating and kickstarting the investment we know needs to happen.”
This “kickstarting” comes in the form of $350 million from the federal government, which Dr Chalmers expects to fund 10,000 new, affordable homes. He said state and territory governments would fund “up to” 10,000 homes as well. But Max Chandler-Mather, who ousted Labor’s Terri Butler from the Brisbane seat of Griffith at the May election, has slammed the announcement as “frankly, complete bulls**t”. “Over the last five years the private sector built just under one million homes, so Labor announcing that under their plans the private sector will build one million homes over five years from 2024 is a complete joke,” he wrote on Twitter.
“These homes would have been built anyway. What’s more these privately built homes that would have been built anyway won’t even be affordable. The treasurer is calling them ‘well located’. We don’t need any more luxury inner city apartments. We need well designed inner-city public housing.
“In reality, all Labor is announcing is $350 million for 10,000 ‘affordable’ homes over five years. Even the $350 million announcement seems dodgy given this amounts to $35,000 per home, so I’d love to know what building contractor they’ve spoken to.
