Despite rental stress now impacting almost 600,000 low-income Australian households, the current Coalition Government continues to go into bat for their wealthy property investor mates.

Rental stress occurs when a household is spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.

The new Productivity Commission Report on Government Services into Housing and Homelessness shows the number of low-income households in rental stress has now reached a staggering 599,049. This further highlights the Coalition’s abjectly failure to address the key economic and social issue of rental affordability.

Overall, 47.1 per cent of low-income households are now in rental stress, compared to 36 per cent 10 years ago. This includes 12.9 per cent of Commonwealth Rent Assistance recipients who spend more than 50 per cent of their income on rent.

Meanwhile, home ownership continues to freefall, private rental is increasing and social housing continues to evaporate. This is why Labor is reforming unfair negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions that benefit investors buying their sixth or seventh property over first home buyers. Labor’s policy won’t impact people who are currently negative gearing and accessing capital gains tax concessions. And by retaining negative gearing for new dwellings, Labor’s policy will also encourage new rental supply and put downward pressure on rents.

The nation’s pre-eminent housing research body, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, estimates there is a shortfall of more than 525,000 affordable rental properties across Australia. To help address this shortfall, Labor will partner with the community housing sector and institutional investors to build 250,000 new, affordable and low energy consumption homes over the next decade. This will enable people on low and moderate incomes to escape rental stress and save to buy their own homes. Safe and secure housing is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy – it’s a human right. Without a home, educational and employment opportunities are severely reduced and health outcomes diminish.

It is outrageous that the Morrison government continues to defend overly generous, unfair and unsustainable tax breaks for wealthy investors and retirees while so many Australians live in poverty and insecurity as a result of rental and mortgage stress.

The Coalition’s obsession with privatisation, competition policy and their faith in the invisible hand of the market has resulted in an incoherent, incompetent and failed approach to housing policy in Australia. Only Labor has the policies and commitment to assist hundreds of thousands of our fellow Australians to put a roof over their head, live in increased security with better health, education and productivity outcomes for the nation.

Senator Doug Cameron

Recently, Federal Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten traveled across Queensland, meeting and talking with people about issues that concerned them most. During that time he made a series of key announcements on health, infrastructure, education – all with important local and national impacts.  If anything, his visit demonstrated that whilst the Coalition chaos continues, Labor is ready to govern.

So whilst the Coalition was busy watching rats desert their sinking (stinking) ship, Bill Shorten and Labor articulated a series of policies to help Queensland and in particular, its regional areas. These policies included:

• investing $1.14 billion in a National Hydrogen Plan to make Australia a world leader in the burgeoning hydrogen industry – boosting jobs, exports, fuel security and reducing pollution in Australia’s energy, transport and industrial sectors;
• committing $800 million to build the Rockhampton Ring Road in partnership with the State Labor Government. This transformative project will support around 780 direct jobs during its delivery. Importantly, it will ease congestion on the Bruce Highway;
• partnering with the Burdekin region to protect the Great Barrier Reef, with a $5 million investment to remove harmful nutrients from wastewater before it reaches the Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s most precious marine ecosystems – worth $6 billion a year to the economy while supporting around 69,000 jobs. A significant threat to the ongoing health of the reef is the impact of wastewater;
• supporting a new dedicated training facility at Cairns Hospital. This $60 million investment is part of Labor’s Fair Go Action Plan to protect Medicare and fix our hospitals;
• creating 100 permanent full time Department of Human Services jobs in Cairns. These 100 new and secure jobs will inject up to $7.2 million into the local economy each and every year, and will further cement Cairns as a national hub for Commonwealth Government service delivery and administration;
• investing $5 million to rebuild the Proserpine Entertainment Centre – generating 43 local jobs in construction and giving the local community a vote of confidence in the future of their region. The entertainment centre is a central part of the town’s identity, but was badly damaged through Cyclone Debbie in 2017 and has been closed since, forcing events to relocate and limiting the region’s capacity to attract new events. Rebuilding it will be an integral step in helping the community’s ongoing recovery efforts;
• building a new 33 bed ward at the Townsville Hospital. Labor will invest $13 million to build the ward, providing state-of-the-art care to cancer and cardiovascular disease patients, general medicine patients and general surgery patients. The new ward will also reduce pressure on other parts of the hospital, including the overstretched emergency department, and contribute to the expansion of the hospital required over the next decade;
• creating 200 permanent full time Department of Human Services jobs in Townsville;
• committing $280 million to deliver the second stage of the Mackay Ring Road, a vital piece of infrastructure that will support the region’s on-going economic development;
• investing $25 million to rejuvenate Great Keppel Island, helping to grow tourism, create jobs and deliver an $80-million-a-year boost to the region’s economy. Great Keppel has amazing, untapped tourism potential but it is held back by a lack of basic infrastructure, including drinking water and a reliable power supply; and
• building a dedicated community mental health centre in Bundaberg. Labor will invest $15.7 million to construct the new building to accommodate rapidly expanding community mental health services in Bundaberg.

With several federal seats in the balance in Queensland, Labor could potentially capture up to eight LNP seats – which is more than enough to claim majority government.

Labor also knows that the fight against the LNP and its lackey, One Nation will be in the regions. Thats why Most of Bill Shorten’s time was spent in provincial areas, holding town hall meetings and engaging with everyday Queenslanders.

As Bill Shorten leaves the Sunshine State, he has done something the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government could never do – give Queenslanders hope for the future.

Annerley Labor