Govt mustn’t use migration as cover for housing crisis

11/12/2023

Statement from Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize on the federal government’s changes to the migration strategy:

“The federal government is using migration as cover for Australia’s housing crisis. The real cause is decades of government policy that has pushed up the cost of housing.

“Governments have given handouts to investors, allowed unlimited rent increases, and stopped building homes for the people who need them.

“That’s why housing is so unfair, so unequal and so unaffordable.

“Overseas migration was low during the pandemic years, and rents went up not down. And even though we have more homes than ever per person, housing costs keep surging.

“Instead of pretending the housing crisis has been imported into Australia, the government needs to take responsibility for the causes of the problem – and start fixing them.

“To make housing affordable again, the government needs to go back to supplying housing directly and end unfair policies like negative gearing and capital gains tax exemptions that push up housing costs. 

“Government policy created the housing crisis. Only government action can fix it.”