Login
iscover
Following a cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has named a new Minister for Housing and Homelessness.
The Hon Clare O’Neil MP will be taking on the role, while former Housing Minister, the Hon Julie Collins MP, will be continuing her work within the agriculture and small business portfolio.
The broader ministry reshuffle follows the retirement of Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor, with the new-look leadership group set to be taken into the upcoming election, with a date still to be set.
Key property bodies have acknowledged the changes, which were announced over the weekend.
Plenty of work still to be done
The Property Council of Australia (PCA) believes the changes should enable some “quick wins” ahead of the federal election, with YouGov polling showing that housing affordability trumps living standards and health as the nation’s top issue.
With Australia’s 1.2 million homes target looming, PCA chief executive Mike Zorbas said O’Neil, the new Housing Minister, has “five levers to pull quicksmart”.
“We congratulate Claire O’Neil on her appointment as Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness, and we will work closely with her to bridge the housing gap by the end of the decade,” he commented.
“The platform is a good one. A national housing target. Tick. A supply council to measure housing supply progress and blockages. Tick.
But he did stress there were some policy levers “that could bridge the almost 300,000 home gap we face by 2029”.
Those are: A new funding boost for last-mile infrastructure at a state and local government level, more construction labour, better opportunity for young first-time buyers to access credit for housing, fit-for-purpose build-to-rent housing legislation, and “best practice policy support on tax, targets and planning for high community benefit housing”.
Call for ‘true leadership’
HIA managing director Jocelyn Martin said that off the back of the cabinet reshuffle, “what is needed now from the Albanese government is true leadership over housing”.
Martin said that “while the efforts to deliver social housing are important, it is builders who build homes not social housing policy“.
“We need this government to recognise that they cannot continue to pile on more regulation and red tape and expect it to result in better outcomes for home owners, investors and renters. They cannot continue to allow the current industrial relations environment to continue to be dominated by unaccountable unions,” she warned.
“What the industry needs is strong and bold leadership, including a pause on future regulation, and to make systemic improvements to business conditions for builders.”
Collins thanked for service
The leaders were also quick to thank outgoing Housing Minister Collins, with Zorbas calling her “the first steward of historic national housing targets”.
Having also established the Housing Australia Future Fund and the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, the CEO said: “Minister Collins achieved the creation of these vehicles in a Parliament bitterly divided on housing solutions and both can and should be game changers over time.”
On behalf of the HIA, Martin acknowledged Collins’ “determination to put the issue of housing supply on the agenda for Australia and the progress she led to improve the system to deliver improvements to social housing has been a significant achievement”.
Pilkington also thanked the outgoing minister “for her tireless work and ambition”.
Noting she will be continuing in the role of Minister for Small Business, Pilkington said the REIA is looking forward to continuing their work with Collins.
Other notable appointments
The reshuffle has also seen a number of other notable appointments for the property sector, including the promotion of Jenny McAllister to the role of Minister for Cities and the Minister for Emergency Management.
According to Zorbas, “it’s great to see the elevation of the cities portfolio, and we look forward to working with Jenny McAllister in her role as a steward for Australian cities as they decarbonise, become more productive economic centres, and house our growing population”.
Martin also lauded the appointment of Andrew Giles as the incoming Minister for Skills and Training, advising him of the need to not only retain the government’s current workforce aspirations to train, retain but substantially grow Australia’s skilled construction workforce.
“The government’s housing agenda of building 1.2 million homes over the next five years will only be achieved if we have an adequate skilled workforce coming through and employers are supported to take on and train new workers,” Martin expressed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.