Dear Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition,

We write following the rise in disturbing rhetoric linking Australia’s migration levels to the current housing crisis.

We are deeply concerned that migrant communities are being scapegoated as the primary reason for this crisis.

We call on the government and opposition to show leadership in this debate and focus on the primary causes of Australia’s housing affordability problem.

The housing crisis has been decades in the making. Poor policy choices by successive governments have pushed up the cost of housing to unsustainable levels. Overwhelming evidence tells us the chronic undersupply of social housing and inflationary impacts of investor tax incentives are fuelling the current crisis.

Australia is one of the least densely populated countries on earth, yet is among the most expensive places to live. Rents rose more between March 2020, when borders closed, and February 2022, when borders fully reopened, than the entire decade prior. House prices similarly surged by 25 percent over the same period.

Many Australian industries rely heavily on migrants, including essential services like healthcare, childcare and construction. Migrants do not just create demand for housing – we rely on them to build the homes that we need.

Band-aid solutions and easy options will not fix this problem. To make housing affordable again, Australia must tackle the big drivers of this crisis including ending the unfair tax policies that push up the cost of housing and building significantly more social and affordable homes.

Yours sincerely,