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News Article

Farrago State Election Policy Comparisons #3: Housing

Benjamin Cronshaw

What do the parties and candidates say about housing in Victoria?

News

Having safe and secure housing is a core human need, which has been getting increasingly hard to achieve for many Australians. This can lead to housing insecurity or homelessness. This issue was covered previously for the Federal election here.

Labor (Government)

Minister: Richard Wynne (Housing; Planning)

The Andrews government has legislated to limit rent increases to no more than one a year & providing protections for renters having pets.

They have attempted to introduce a levy on property developers to support more affordable housing.

Liberal (Opposition)

Shadow Minister: Richard Riordan (Housing)

The Liberals oppose Labor’s proposed tax on property developments for social housing.

They propose helping people to buy their first home, including by reducing stamp duty for first home buyers.

The Liberal housing plan also promises to build 150,000 new houses within 2 years, including through planning reforms.

Greens

Spokesperson: Samantha Ratnam (Housing and Planning)

The Greens propose building 200,000 new affordable houses. This would be financed partly through a levy on property developers. They want stronger standards for renting prices and energy efficiency ratings.

They also want to end homelessness through a Housing First approach, which provides housing and other services to people experiencing homelessness.

Minor parties

Transport Matters Party has a pretty holistic policy about addressing homelessness, including the provision of housing, financial assistance, mental health support and more. They have called for the Government to implement all 51 recommendations of the Victorian Homelessness Inquiry. Linking to their name, they also want public transport to be cheaper for people experiencing homelessness.

The Sustainable Australia Party emphasises housing as a human right, rather than an investment. Their state policies include mandating 10% affordable housing in new property developments, greater rights for renters in tenancy laws and offering a choice between stamp duty or an annual land tax. As with many of their policies, they link housing problems with an increasing population.

One of the carryovers from the United Australia Party’s federal campaign is the promise for a “maximum 3% interest rate on home loans for five years.” How they were meant to achieve this is not clear, especially with recent rate rises. They also propose home loans to be partially tax deductible (up to $30,000).

Sources

Labor

https://www.danandrews.com.au/fairness-renting

Liberal

https://vic.liberal.org.au/our-plan

Greens

https://greens.org.au/vic/platform/housing

Sustainable Australia

https://www.sustainableaustralia.org.au/housing

Transport Matters Party

https://www.transportmatters.org.au/homelessness

UAP