Inquiry: The case for rent caps mounts   :) 
2026-07-07
greens.org.au
The fifth hearing of the Greens-led Senate Inquiry into intergenerational housing inequity, held in Sydney today, showed an increasing number of experts support the case for rent caps, as renters face runaway rent increases.

Additional evidence to the committee today showed:

Renters (31% of the population) face deep housing insecurity due to insecure rental contracts, unlimited rent increases and no-cause evictions.

Renters don’t feel they have options: they endure rent increases unchallenged and forego making maintenance requests to avoid facing evictions.

Lifelong renters don’t have assets to pass down to their children for a house deposit, which perpetuates intergenerational housing inequality.

Social housing has fallen from 5.7% of dwellings in the 1990s to 3.6% today, and Australia sits well behind the OECD average of 7.1%.

Current government investment in social housing is inadequate to reverse the decades-long decline in social housing stock.

Lack of government of investment in social housing has contributed to acute housing need and homelessness.

Working hard and saving no longer gets ordinary Australians into home ownership.

Younger people are giving up on the great Australian dream of ever owning a home.

Australia is becoming an inheritance society rather than a wage society.

People with parental support are nearly twice as likely to own a home compared to people who don't have parental support.

Wealth is increasingly held by a minority of wealthy older households. People aged 65+ have received around 8 times the increase in overall wealth compared to people under 35 over the last two decades.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, housing inequity is about intergenerational dispossession. Housing shapes health, education, safety and connection to community and culture and it is an investment in self-determination.

Lines attributable to Greens spokesperson for finance, housing and homelessness and Senator for South Australia, Barbara Pocock:

"This inquiry makes it clear that governments haven't delivered relief for renters.

“We've heard powerful evidence from young renters who are struggling to meet unexpected rent hikes, who are facing possible eviction.

“The current rental market is the most unaffordable in Australian history with some of the highest rates of rental stress.

“Too many renters are just one rent hike away from eviction or homelessness.

"Renters don't have a buffer - they are the buffer. When interest rates rise, landlords pass the cost straight on."

“House prices have skyrocketed - up three times faster than wages in just five years. The average home now costs $1 million.

“For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, housing inequity is the legacy of intergenerational dispossession. Investing in housing is key to self determination.

“After four years in government, Australia’s housing crisis is now Labor’s housing crisis.

"Labor has locked in existing tax breaks for wealthy property investors and super profits for big corporations - while renters pay the price.

"Labor's priorities are clear: tax handouts for wealthy investors, super profits for corporations, and higher costs for everyone else.

“Labor's plans to fix the housing crisis are not touching the sides. After four years of rapidly increasing house prices and astronomical increases in rents, we urgently need solutions.

“Labor needs to introduce rent caps and invest directly into building good quality homes and renting them to people who need them at prices they can actually afford.”

Think I Will put another vote in for the Australian greens, at the next election.  Good on the greens.   :)

Rent caps do not help those who supposedly need it most. It helps those with the cash at hand to bribe their way into a rent controlled apartment in the inner city. If you thought 200 people applying for a rental property is outrageous, wait till you see what happens when people stop putting properties up for rent because of the Greens' idiocy.

All caused by Labor's mass uncontrolled immigration policy
that brought millions of people here -
when there was nowhere to live.

Albo has gotta go.

freediver wrote on Jul 11^th, 2026 at 7:36am:

Rent caps do not help those who supposedly need it most. It helps those with the cash at hand to bribe their way into a rent controlled apartment in the inner city. If you thought 200 people applying for a rental property is outrageous, wait till you see what happens when people stop putting properties up for rent because of the Greens' idiocy.

Yes some renters will have cheap rent but the taxpayer will be shelling out money for the upkeep of these homes. Renters don't pay for maintenance, rates and insurance and these are the things that make homes expensive.

As far as building quality homes it requires quality workers and I can tell you now if the government start building mass homes the cost will be far higher than what an investor could build it for.

In the end this is just going to cost the taxpayer due to mismanagement, excessive costs and rorts.

Didn't people learn anything from the machete fiasco. government people are slow, expensive, self serving and produce poor outcomes. Solving one problem by creating a larger problem is not a fix.

Bobby. wrote on Jul 11^th, 2026 at 7:40am:

All caused by Labor's mass uncontrolled immigration policy that brought millions of people here - when there was nowhere to live. Albo has gotta go.

And let's not forget the international "student" rorts, Bobby.

Like this one in today's The West Australian.

Front page story and also on pages 4 and 5.

Perth’s sophisticated scam exploiting illegal student visas to rip off customers and strong-arm taxi industry

Oh, I removed that pesky, incorrect apostrophe (visa's), by the way.  ::)

Paywalled but I've bought the paper and shown part of the story below. I couldn't show both pages without it being unreadable but you'll get the idea.

A lot of these "students" also don't bother turning up for their classes a lot of the time because they're too busy making money illegally with things like this. They also work many more hours than their visa is supposed to allow them to (48 hours a fortnight).

Disgraceful stuff.

---

Hot bedding  - yuck.      :o

Bobby. wrote on Jul 11^th, 2026 at 11:42am:

Hot bedding  - yuck.      :o

Indeed.

As one gets out, another gets in: thousands of students are ‘hot‑bedding’

And that was 5 years ago. I bet it's a lot worse now.

I wonder how often they change and wash the sheets and pillowcases?

Here's the front page of today's The West Australian.

"They send money back to their home countries". Yes, of course they do.

Now I'm just waiting for the Premier, Deputy Premier or some other 'high up' pollie to appear on the TV news (complete with their usual 2 or 3 'noddies' standing behind them) to tell us "there's nothing to see here" or "we're looking into it".

And then, just like magic, it will all be forgotten about by this time next week. But, more than likely, nothing will be done about it.

---

We don't want a labor government, or for that matter a coalition government with an automatic rubber stamp.  This is where the Senate is so important.  So therefore I will vote Australian greens.  At least in the Senate anyway.   :)    

Fastest rent hikes in Australia show why Victoria needs rent caps – saving renters $15,590 by 2030
2026-07-09
greens.org.au
Melbourne renters are being slugged with the fastest rent increases in the country, with new figures showing the city's median weekly rent jumped by more than $20 (3.5 per cent) to $600 in the June quarter.

The Victorian Greens say today's figures are proof that Labor has failed to protect renters from unlimited rent hikes, with landlords continuing to jack up rents simply because they can.

Independent modelling by the Parliamentary Budget Office shows that if Victoria froze rents for two years from March 2026 and permanently capped future rent increases to wage growth, the average Victorian renter would save $15,590 by 2030 and more than $120,000 by 2040.

Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens spokesperson for Renting, Gabrielle de Vietri:

"Renters keep getting hit with outrageous rent increases simply because landlords know they can get away with it under Labor.

"These figures make one thing crystal clear: we urgently need rent caps.

"Rent caps would save the average Victorian renter more than $15,500 over the next four years. That's money people could spend raising their kids, paying the bills or saving for a home—instead of paying off their landlord’s house.

"Renters don't need more excuses. They need lower rents.

"The federal government's housing reforms haven't even kicked in yet. These rent hikes aren't about absorbing higher costs—they're landlords taking the piss because nothing is stopping them.   :(

“Victorian renters deserve a government that's on their side. Labor will always side with the property industry because they are funded by them to stay in power. The Greens are the only ones with the guts to do what it takes to tackle the housing crisis - cap rents, build public housing, end the special treatment for property investors and corporations.”

Background

The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates a two-year rent freeze from March 2026 followed by permanent caps linked to wage growth would save the median Victorian renter:

$15,590 by 2030

$53,517 by 2035

$120,406 by 2040.

Rent controls are a key pillar of the Victorian Greens election policy plan leading up to the 2026 Victorian State election, where the Greens are tipped to win more seats from both Labor and the Liberals. The Greens policy includes:

an initial 2-year rent freeze to give wages the chance to catch up to rents followed by a cap on rent increases to go up no more than the wage growth or CPI, whichever is lowest, of that year in any one year.

Tie rent increases to the property, not the tenant – so renters can’t be kicked out for a landlord to put the rent up.

A ban on rent increases for two years at the start of every tenancy, to give renters security when they move house.

freediver wrote on Jul 11^th, 2026 at 7:36am:

Rent caps do not help those who supposedly need it most.

 

Correct.


Quote:

It helps those with the cash at hand to bribe their way into a rent controlled apartment in the inner city.

  Hookay...they are not the low/median income workers who are forced to rent.


Quote:

If you thought 200 people applying for a rental property is outrageous, wait till you see what happens when people stop putting properties up for rent because of the Greens' idiocy.

I agree rent caps won't help mefian wage renters in the current unaffordable housing crisis.

But you ignored the Greens observations (in the OP)  re the reduction in public housing since the 90s.

Mean wage earners will be forced into stressful renting for years to come, given the unaffordable housing market. 

Quote:

Hookay...they are not the low/median income workers who are forced to rent.

They are the ones who choose to rent. For lifestyle or whatever other reasons.


Quote:

I agree rent caps won't help mefian wage renters

If median income earners need the government to dictate the price of their rent or give them public housing, we are pretty much communist.


Quote:

But you ignored the Greens observations (in the OP)  re the reduction in public housing since the 90s.

I also didn't give you detailed observations of my toes. They aren't getting any younger.

I move around a lot. I prefer to rent.
I've lived in Kirribilli four doors down from Keating in the Lodge to a tarp in the bush which really put a lot of Abos to shame in their free housing.

freediver wrote on Jul 12^th, 2026 at 5:37pm:

Quote: Hookay...they are not the low/median income workers who are forced to rent. They are the ones who choose to rent. For lifestyle or whatever other reasons.

The rental crisis is about  people who are forced to rent, because mean wages will never be able to buy a house in the current unaffordable housing market.


Quote:

If median income earners need the government to dictate the price of their rent or give them public housing, we are pretty much communist.

Well, it's headng that way: New Yorkers famously recently elected a democratic socialist as mayor - despite Trump warning the sky would fall - because houses in NY are no longer affordable (prices or rents) for mean-wage earners (the wage most people earn, lower than the average wage).


Quote:

I also didn't give you detailed observations of my toes. They aren't getting any younger.

The OP didn't mention your toes, it correctly pointed out that public housing is necessary when mean wages are lower than required to service private sector rents and mortgages.

Jasin wrote on Jul 12^th, 2026 at 5:42pm:

I move around a lot. I prefer to rent. I've lived in Kirribilli four doors down from Keating in the Lodge to a tarp in the bush which really put a lot of Abos to shame in their free housing.

You can't raise a family (feed, clothe and educate) in a "tarp in the bush".

freediver wrote on Jul 12^th, 2026 at 5:37pm:

If median income earners need the government to dictate the price of their rent or give them public housing, we are pretty much communist.

Albo has created that communism -
his immigration policies ensure that there are millions of impoverished people
even if they have full time jobs.
Communism needs as many people as possible living in misery for Labor to survive.

Bobby. wrote on Jul 13^th, 2026 at 12:00pm:

freediver wrote on Jul 12th, 2026 at 5:37pm: If median income earners need the government to dictate the price of their rent or give them public housing, we are pretty much communist. Albo has created that communism -

No, educate yourself;  3 decades of housing as a private investment vehicle, aided and abetted by Howard's disastrous 1990s CGT and NG policies, combined with  excess demand caused by high immigration, has resulted in unaffordable housing, in contrast to affordable rents  (whether public or private) or mortgages,  under "communist" Menzies during the Keynesian 'welfare state' era.   


Quote:

....policies ensure that there are millions of impoverished people even if they have full time jobs. Communism needs as many people as possible living in misery for Labor to survive.

You have it back to front: Menzies was "communist" - ie, housed everyone - while  Albo is the free marketeer, though he is now attempting to reverse 3-decades of disastrous tax policy which has resulted in unaffordable housing (rents or mortgages) for mean wage earners.

thegreatdivide wrote on Jul 13^th, 2026 at 12:38pm:

You have it back to front: Menzies was "communist" - ie, housed everyone - while  Albo is the free marketeer, though he is now attempting to reverse 3-decades of disastrous tax policy which has resulted in unaffordable housing (rents or mortgages) for mean wage earners.

Albo brought millions of people here - he caused it.    :o

Rent caps don't work.

If rent caps are introduced, investors don't bother increasing the supply. Existing investors spend less on maintenance which means tenants go without. Down the road rents increase due to limited supply.

It never works.

thegreatdivide wrote on Jul 13^th, 2026 at 12:38pm:

Bobby. wrote on Jul 13th, 2026 at 12:00pm: freediver wrote on Jul 12th, 2026 at 5:37pm: If median income earners need the government to dictate the price of their rent or give them public housing, we are pretty much communist. Albo has created that communism - No, educate yourself;  3 decades of housing as a private investment vehicle, aided and abetted by Howard's disastrous 1990s CGT and NG policies, combined with  excess demand caused by high immigration, has resulted in unaffordable housing, in contrast to affordable rents  (whether public or private) or mortgages,  under "communist" Menzies during the Keynesian 'welfare state' era.    Quote: ....policies ensure that there are millions of impoverished people even if they have full time jobs. Communism needs as many people as possible living in misery for Labor to survive. You have it back to front: Menzies was "communist" - ie, housed everyone - while  Albo is the free marketeer, though he is now attempting to reverse 3-decades of disastrous tax policy which has resulted in unaffordable housing (rents or mortgages) for mean wage earners.

I have never understood this argument that the 50 percent capital gains tax discount is the cause of the housing issue.

It makes no sense.

Capital gains tax is a relatively new tax in Australia. It was introduced in September 1985. Before this point in time, there was no capital gains tax.

So why wasn't there a housing crisis from 1901 through to 1985?

MattE wrote on Jul 14^th, 2026 at 6:44pm:

thegreatdivide wrote on Jul 13th, 2026 at 12:38pm: Bobby. wrote on Jul 13th, 2026 at 12:00pm: freediver wrote on Jul 12th, 2026 at 5:37pm: If median income earners need the government to dictate the price of their rent or give them public housing, we are pretty much communist. Albo has created that communism - No, educate yourself;  3 decades of housing as a private investment vehicle, aided and abetted by Howard's disastrous 1990s CGT and NG policies, combined with  excess demand caused by high immigration, has resulted in unaffordable housing, in contrast to affordable rents  (whether public or private) or mortgages,  under "communist" Menzies during the Keynesian 'welfare state' era.    Quote: ....policies ensure that there are millions of impoverished people even if they have full time jobs. Communism needs as many people as possible living in misery for Labor to survive. You have it back to front: Menzies was "communist" - ie, housed everyone - while  Albo is the free marketeer, though he is now attempting to reverse 3-decades of disastrous tax policy which has resulted in unaffordable housing (rents or mortgages) for mean wage earners. I have never understood this argument that the 50 percent capital gains tax discount is the cause of the housing issue. It makes no sense. Capital gains tax is a relatively new tax in Australia. It was introduced in September 1985. Before this point in time, there was no capital gains tax. So why wasn't there a housing crisis from 1901 through to 1985?

Capital gains taxes are meant to encourage investment in productive enterprise.

But Howard supercharged investment in non-productive housing via NG; houses are for living in, as opposed to consumption which encourages (risky?) productive enterprise.

Hence , in a high immigration, rapid capital gains via increasing house prices scenario, "investors" turned to real estate to make money, resulting a growing rent-seeking class while home ownership rates fell.

The pre WW2 situation is complicated by war and depression, but the post WW2 situation  is ealier to explain. 

1. Keynesian 'welfare state' era 1946 - 1970s  (no actual welfare  because Oz had full employment and housing for all, whether public or private):

2. Ascendency of Neoclassical "small government /privatization economics from 1980s on, because  the 70s Arab oil embargoes and increasing competition from Asia undermined the cost structure in the West which created 'stagflation' (unemployment and inflation at the same time); economists developed the wrong solutions in an attempt to fix problems related to global events/globalization, with 'comparative advantage'-based free trade.

Fast forward to today: democracies are beginning to buckle under growing housing, cost of living, and inequality crises.   

Bobby. wrote on Jul 13^th, 2026 at 8:54pm:

thegreatdivide wrote on Jul 13th, 2026 at 12:38pm: You have it back to front: Menzies was "communist" - ie, housed everyone - while  Albo is the free marketeer, though he is now attempting to reverse 3-decades of disastrous tax policy which has resulted in unaffordable housing (rents or mortgages) for mean wage earners. Albo brought millions of people here - he caused it.    :o

Menzies built the Snowy scheme using labour got by massive post war  immigration from war-ravaged Europe - while housing and employing everyone. 

Educate yourself.

Australia was a mix of socialist thought and free enterprise without being communist in that the industries were all state run or ostensibly held by the people while the reality is they were held by the communist honchoes 'for' the people' - thus making the people actual servants of the state rather than its owners, and subject to being 'corrected' at any time.

Not all capitalism is bad, not all socialism is bad...  it is the extremes of human greed that make them bad in their outcomes.

Albo is hopeless, he is somewhere lost in the fields of leftist fantasy while working diligently to promote the interests of robber baron capitalism all over again.. like ever so many these days, he seriously imagines that some theory of life is reality..

Meantime all this feeding of pay rises to the 'lowest paid' - interestingly again where the claim is that women predominate in the numbers in those areas (while actually receiving on average 6.3% more per actual working hour than men) - poor dears - and the real point made last night was that bracket creep would not only negate rises, but that it would fulfil the dream of more dollars coming to the government - creating the overly strong central government that Labour (sic) used to abhor (along with elitism etc which fills its ranks) ..

What we last need is a government with its hands on so many dollars that it can just hand them around like chaff in a hurricane... as it currently does - look at the NDIS in the hands of women 'managers' - a rat fight of the highest proportions in every way, and a clear avenue of handing unearned cash from treasury to countless rorters... Usual Suspects ... by allowing 'unregistered providers' - hello - to sign up all their cousins with the same name and features... cousin marriage -

..... no, no, no .... that not my cousin Mohamed sign up with my cousin Fatima... that her cousin Mohammed sign up with me - all look same  - here is taxi licence of whole family - even sister look same .... you pay $140 an hour now to provide for Mohammed disability? ...

Grappler Racist Filth wrote on Jul 15^th, 2026 at 1:32pm:

Australia was a mix of socialist thought and free enterprise without being communist in that the industries were all state run or ostensibly held by the people while the reality is they were held by the communist honchoes 'for' the people' - thus making the people actual servants of the state rather than its owners, and subject to being 'corrected' at any time.

Your usual ramblings obscuring the facts; the Keynesian post ww2 'welfare state' economy (1946-70s)  - also under Conservative Menzies (who tried to outlaw communism but was defeated by the courts and the people in a referendum) - is considered the "golden age of capitalism".   


Quote:

Not all capitalism is bad, not all socialism is bad...  it is the extremes of human greed that make them bad in their outcomes.

That's the best thing you'll say in your post....though  not much more than a 'bet each way'....


Quote:

Albo is hopeless, he is somewhere lost in the fields of leftist fantasy while working diligently to promote the interests of robber baron capitalism all over again..

Albo is a 'centre Left' politician following the dictates of the post Friedman/Thatcher Neoliberal 'small government/privatization' religion. 


Quote:

like ever so many these days, he seriously imagines that some theory of life is reality.

Deep......translation: sovereign citizens - Libertarians -  possess the truth about human relationships. Law adjucating between individuals' opposing interests be damned.


Quote:

Meantime all this feeding of pay rises to the 'lowest paid' - interestingly again where the claim is that women predominate in the numbers in those areas

What - in a cost of living crisis in an economy where women are expected to be finacially independent, and more often (on average) work in lower paid 'caring' industries (eg child care)  - you are bleating about lifting the minimum wage?   So you want to claim child care centres have as many male as female workers...

Try googling the stats....


Quote:

(while actually receiving on average 6.3% more per actual working hour than men) - poor dears - and the real point made last night was that bracket creep would not only negate rises, but that it would fulfil the dream of more dollars coming to the government - creating the overly strong central government that Labour (sic) used to abhor (along with elitism etc which fills its ranks) ..

RW crap:   

1. Guess why women end up with  less super on average than men, over their working lives....

2. Labor in the Keynesian 'welfare state' era wanted to nationize the Oz banking system and maintain public housing:

"During the post-WWII Keynesian era, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley pursued an aggressive socialist and welfare-state agenda. They passed the Banking Act 1947 to nationalize private banks and established the Commonwealth–State Housing Agreement to drive mass public housing construction.

...socialism to the core.

For someone who claims to serve "facts", you are a total failure. 


Quote:

What we last need is a government with its hands on so many dollars that it can just hand them around like chaff in a hurricane...

Er,... the government is crowing about lowering taxes on working people , and cutting the NDIS , certainly not spending like "chaff in a hurricane". In fact the govt. is not even providing the public housing needed to house low income workers in a private sector housing unaffordability crisis (rents or mortgages). 


Quote:

as it currently does - look at the NDIS in the hands of women 'managers' - a rat fight of the highest proportions in every way, and a clear avenue of handing unearned cash from treasury to countless rorters... Usual Suspects ... by allowing 'unregistered providers' - hello - to sign up all their cousins with the same name and features... cousin marriage -

The privatization dogma is the problem: a govt managed NDIS, staffed by  public sector workers with specified tasks matched to disabled-recipients needs would shut out all the rorters.

whiteknight wrote on Jul 11^th, 2026 at 4:01am:

Inquiry: The case for rent caps mounts   :)  2026-07-07 greens.org.au The fifth hearing of the Greens-led Senate Inquiry into intergenerational housing inequity, held in Sydney today, showed an increasing number of experts support the case for rent caps, as renters face runaway rent increases.

Greens showing everyone they're economic illiterates again.


Quote:

Apartment rents are down and supply is up 170% in Buenos Aires since Argentina scrapped all rental regulations Buenos Aires is seeing a rental market boom. Since last October, rents have fallen 40% and supply has skyrocketed over 170%, according to The Wall Street Journal. The increasing affordability comes after Argentina did away with restrictions on year-to-year rent increases, which sent initial lease prices soaring and locked up some of the city's available supply. Under former President Alberto Fernández, the country employed rent controls to minimize rent hikes starting in 2020. Prices are now easing as Javier Milei, the country's recently elected president, is working to get rid of strict price controls on everything from rent to food to clothing. Those controls are leftovers from Fernández's left-wing policies and Fair Prices initiative. https://www.businessinsider.com/rents-apartment-supply-argentina-price-controls-buenos-aires-2024-9

The Greens are a pox on Australia they have no idea on economics

Grappler Racist Filth wrote on Jul 15^th, 2026 at 1:32pm:

Australia was a mix of socialist thought and free enterprise without being communist in that the industries were all state run or ostensibly held by the people while the reality is they were held by the communist honchoes 'for' the people' - thus making the people actual servants of the state rather than its owners, and subject to being 'corrected' at any time.

Your usual ramblings obscuring the facts; the Keynesian post ww2 'welfare state' economy (1946-70s)  - also under Conservative Menzies (who tried to outlaw communism but was defeated by the courts and the people in a referendum) - is considered the "golden age of capitalism". 


Quote:

Not all capitalism is bad, not all socialism is bad...  it is the extremes of human greed that make them bad in their outcomes.

That's the best thing you'll say in your post....though  not much more than a 'bet each way'....


Quote:

Albo is hopeless, he is somewhere lost in the fields of leftist fantasy while working diligently to promote the interests of robber baron capitalism all over again.. like ever so many these days, he seriously imagines that some theory of life is reality..

Albo is a 'centre Left' politician following the dictates of the post Friedman/Thatcher Neoliberal 'small government/privatization' religion. 


Quote:

Meantime all this feeding of pay rises to the 'lowest paid' - interestingly again where the claim is that women predominate in the numbers in those areas (while actually receiving on average 6.3% more per actual working hour than men) - poor dears -

What - in a cost of living crisis in an economy where women are expected to be finacially independent, and more often (on average) work in lower paid 'caring' industries (eg child care)  - you are bleating about lifting the minimum wage?   So you want to claim child care centres have as many male as female workers...

Try googling that stats.



Quote:

What we last need is a government with its hands on so many dollars that it can just hand them around like chaff in a hurricane... as it currently does - look at the NDIS in the hands of women 'managers' - a rat fight of the highest proportions in every way, and a clear avenue of handing unearned cash from treasury to countless rorters... Usual Suspects ... by allowing 'unregistered providers' - hello - to sign up all their cousins with the same name and features... cousin marriage -

1. Guess why women end up with  less super on average than men, over their working lives....

2. Labor in the Keynesian 'welfare state' era wanted to nationize the Oz banking system and maintain public housing: (google)

"During the post-WWII Keynesian era, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley pursued an aggressive socialist and welfare-state agenda. They passed the Banking Act 1947 to nationalize private banks and established the Commonwealth–State Housing Agreement to drive mass public housing construction.

...socialism to the core.

For someone who claims to serve "facts", you are a total failure. 


Quote:

What we last need is a government with its hands on so many dollars that it can just hand them around like chaff in a hurricane...

Er,... the government is crowing about lowering taxes on working people , and cutting the NDIS , certainly not spending like "chaff in a hurricane". In fact the govt. is not even providing the public housing needed to house low income workers in a private sector housing unaffordability crisis (rents or mortgages). 


Quote:

as it currently does - look at the NDIS in the hands of women 'managers' - a rat fight of the highest proportions in every way, and a clear avenue of handing unearned cash from treasury to countless rorters... Usual Suspects ... by allowing 'unregistered providers' - hello - to sign up all their cousins with the same name and features... cousin marriage -

The privatization dogma is the problem: a govt-managed NDIS, staffed by  public sector workers with specified tasks matched to disabled-recipients needs, would shut out all the rorters. i

Baronvonrort wrote on Jul 17^th, 2026 at 6:14pm:

whiteknight wrote on Jul 11th, 2026 at 4:01am: Inquiry: The case for rent caps mounts   :)  2026-07-07 greens.org.au The fifth hearing of the Greens-led Senate Inquiry into intergenerational housing inequity, held in Sydney today, showed an increasing number of experts support the case for rent caps, as renters face runaway rent increases. Greens showing everyone they're economic illiterates again. Apartment rents are down and supply is up 170% in Buenos Aires since Argentina scrapped all rental regulations Buenos Aires is seeing a rental market boom. Since last October, rents have fallen 40% and supply has skyrocketed over 170%, according to The Wall Street Journal. The increasing affordability comes after Argentina did away with restrictions on year-to-year rent increases, which sent initial lease prices soaring and locked up some of the city's available supply. Under former President Alberto Fernández, the country employed rent controls to minimize rent hikes starting in 2020. Prices are now easing as Javier Milei, the country's recently elected president, is working to get rid of strict price controls on everything from rent to food to clothing. Those controls are leftovers from Fernández's left-wing policies and Fair Prices initiative. https://www.businessinsider.com/rents-apartment-supply-argentina-price-controls-buenos-aires-2024-9 [google]: Following macroeconomic stabilization, the poverty rate in the City of Buenos Aires dropped to 17.3%, down significantly from highs seen in previous years. However, the economic reality for many residents remains difficult due to the following factors: Rising Homelessness: Despite the recent drop in official poverty rates, the number of people living on the streets in Buenos Aires reached record highs, with a nearly 28% increase in homelessness reported by local NGOs. Many individuals have been displaced by rising rent prices and the high cost of living. Gap in Wages vs. Costs: A significant disparity remains between wages and the cost of living in the capital. For example, a minimum wage of 352,400 pesos is often insufficient to cover basic monthly needs, which local studies estimate at around 1.5 million pesos (about $1,000 USD). Economic Strain: Subsistence challenges persist across the metropolitan area. Many households continue to rely on informal, precarious work and there has been a reported increase in people having to scavenge or rely on community soup kitchens to get by. [quote]The Greens are a pox on Australia they have no idea on economics

..neither do you.

Meanwhile (google)

Sydney's median house price has surged to a record high of $1.79 million, though the market has recently shown signs of cooling with inner-city and waterfront suburbs seeing price drops. Despite this recent pullback, housing affordability remains near historical lows, with the owner-occupier rate slumping to a 70-year low

...a wealthy rent-seeker's paradise...

The sad fact is it’s majority owned as investments by overseas investors.

Who just quietly, wouldn’t allow an Australian to buy in their land.

Our government is so pathetic that overseas investors just can’t believe their luck!!

Daves2017 wrote on Jul 17^th, 2026 at 10:16pm:

The sad fact is it’s majority owned as investments by overseas investors. Who just quietly, wouldn’t allow an Australian to buy in their land. Our government is so pathetic that overseas investors just can’t believe their luck!!

What's majority owned?

But yes,  governments abandoned the public housing required to house low income groups, over the  last 3 decades.

So here we are, courtesy of  disastrous Neoclassical privatization dogma.

Whenever governments interfere in a market, chaos ensues.  :(

Captain Nemo wrote on Jul 18^th, 2026 at 1:46pm:

Whenever governments interfere in a market, chaos ensues.  :(

Rents are soaring because demand for housing severely outpaces available supply. This chronic shortage is driven by severe population growth, a lack of new construction, and recent policy changes causing property investors to exit the market or raise prices to cover their holding costs.

The primary drivers of the rental crisis include:

Supply Shortage: A lack of new housing construction and social housing development has led to record-low vacancy rates (often below 1% in many major cities), leaving renters in a fierce "landlord's market".

High Demand & Migration: Strong overseas migration and population growth have resulted in hundreds of thousands of new people competing for a limited pool of existing rental properties.

Investor Flight & Tax Reforms: Recent tax and housing policy changes (such as reforms to negative gearing and capital gains) have disincentivized private property investors. This has caused some landlords to sell up, removing rental stock from the market, or to raise rent aggressively to offset higher holding costs.

Cost of Living Pressures: Broader inflation and interest rate hikes have made it harder to save for home deposits, forcing many people to continue renting for longer and further boosting demand.