How Housing Became the Third Rail of Australian Politics Going into a federal election, both major parties are hesitant to tame the sky-high property values that have priced many voters out of the housing market. Residential buildings along the harbor in Sydney, Australia. A survey ranked the city as one of the least affordable in the world for housing.Credit...Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg By Yan Zhuang Reporting from Sydney, Australia May 2, 2025 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/world/australia/australia-election-housing.html Marcus Neil bought his first home, on the outskirts of Brisbane, Australia, in his late teens with little money and financial know-how but a strong sense that he was working toward future stability. Decades later, he owns four investment properties, which he hopes will be his safety net when he retires. “I just see it as a really, really safe bet,” said Mr. Neil, 53. He has been on the money. Australia is now one of the most expensive places in the world to own a home. But the sky-high values have priced many people out of the housing market and caused an affordability crisis, particularly for younger Australians. They have been exasperated by statistics like the one that shows the typical Australian home costs about eight times the median income — making it a more expensive real estate market than New York’s. These citizens have a chance to demand change on Saturday, when Australians head to the voting booth. For the first time here, millennials and Gen Z voters will outnumber baby boomers in a federal election. But it is unclear to what extent this demographic change will sway results. Recent polls indicate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is likely to win re-election. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, whose campaign took cues from President Trump, has seen his support fall as Mr. Trump’s policies have unleashed global tumult. Two-thirds of Australians are homeowners, and about 20 percent of the population owns more than one property, according to government statistics. That makes them a powerful voting bloc that is generally opposed to changes that could damage property values. Indeed, the policy proposals from the two major political parties, many economists say, are likely to drive prices even higher. Perth, Australia. Many young people in the country feel priced out of the housing market.Credit...Saeed Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Some young voters are all too aware of this. “All I can see is house prices going up and even more up,” said Lamisa Islam, 24, who lives with her parents in a southwestern suburb of Sydney while she saves up for her own place. “My little piggy bank will again fall far, far behind.” Saul Eslake, an independent economist, distilled the country’s approach to real estate, saying “In Australia, housing has become seen as a vehicle for accumulating paper wealth rather than something which satisfies a basic human need.” There are other factors beyond property investors, of course. The biggest problem, many say, is a dire lack of housing supply, which has been made worse by a range of issues like complex zoning and planning laws, a recent shortage of labor and building materials, existing homeowners resistant to new construction in their neighborhoods, and a shortage of viable land in a country where most of the population is crowded into a small number of cities. A decades-long population boom, fueled by immigration, has also increased demand for housing. On the campaign trail, both Mr. Albanese, of the Labor Party, and Mr. Dutton have vowed not to change tax laws that many economists say have fueled speculation in real estate. One of these is a tax law called negative gearing, which allows those investing in property to claim losses associated with it, including interest expenses, as deductions. Another concession for real estate investors: They receive a discount on the capital gains tax charged on the sale of a home. Although other countries, including the United States, offer similar tax breaks, economists say the ones in Australia are unusually generous. Construction in Sydney in April. Rental vacancies are also at record lows, and a shortage of housing is part of the problem.Credit...Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg Both major parties have announced policies to boost housing supply or infrastructure. But at the centerpiece of their election platforms are proposals that will help first-time home buyers. Mr. Albanese, the leader of the center-left Labor Party, has pledged to expand a program to allow new buyers to purchase a home with as little as 5 percent down. Mr. Dutton, who is the head of a conservative coalition, has promised to allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to claim tax deductions on their mortgage interest repayments. These policies are “only going to increase demand, which will push up prices,” said Steven Rowley, a property professor at Curtin University in Western Australia. Jerath Head, 37, a renter in Melbourne, said that he found both major parties’ housing affordability policies lackluster. Still, he said, he might vote for Labor over a minor party or an independent, if only to ensure that Mr. Dutton’s Liberal Party did not take power. For Mr. Head, who worked as a writer and editor but recently made a midlife career change and returned to school to study medicine, homeownership feels completely out of reach. “It’s so far beyond where I think I’m at, at this point in my life, that it’s not even something that registers,” he said. Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
I don't know AU politics. Just thinking out loud... Would it be cool if third party candidates did well in the election... They could bring back some sense to the budget and common sense to the housing issues...
Politics will never change and improve just because a new magical hire was elected. People of all varieties and personalities are all biased and corrupt. Their way is perfect and everyone else is wrong. The only way things will improve is if a major global event took place that required everyone to be on the same page....like if we had to fight against an alien invading army. And rebuild the destruction on earth 1111cabin
Albanese and Dutton take the gloves off as scare campaigns go into overdrive By David Crowe May 3, 2025 — 4.35am https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...paigns-go-into-overdrive-20250501-p5lvpf.html Labor and the Coalition are scaling up their negative campaigns in a dramatic move to sway voters in the final day of the federal election, clashing over healthcare and energy while also waging a social media fight over tax. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has gone on the offensive with a bid to secure a majority in parliament and defy predictions that he will be forced into minority government, signalling Labor’s growing confidence it will hold on to power. Labor candidate for Longman Rhiannyn Douglas and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a visit to the Morayfield Medicare Urgent Care Clinic on Friday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Opposition Leader Peter Dutton fought back on Friday with a warning to voters about the pressure on living standards after three years of Labor, while issuing a personal vow that “life will be cheaper” if Australians raise him to the nation’s highest office.
If 97% of the world's population was wiped out and every city has been decimated....and we had to start from scratch day 1... that's the only way society humanity will improve as a whole. Erase all past history like a computer hard drive Windows 98 blue screen of death. The past history is what divides us
I don't think the Housing Crisis will be solved until the Construction sector takes off. Tony Abbott ripped the Guts out of TAFE so less skilled Workers and Apprentices came through. Most rich people have alot invested in Property and those people/companies have alot of influence over Politicians. How someone like Clive Palmer can claim he'll do something seems a complete Lie.