Since the budget passed significant tax reform that is designed, among other things, to make housing more affordable, house prices were flat in May and then dropped by 0.4% in June. Some in the media have lost their minds at the very idea that house prices might not continue increasing. But rapidly rising house prices are the opposite of affordable housing.
Housing inequality now extends beyond rent and property prices, with millions of Australians locked out of cheaper electricity because they cannot access rooftop solar or batteries, a Senate inquiry has heard. Solar Citizens is calling for a new tax incentive to encourage landlords to install rooftop solar, proposing the depreciation schedule be reduced from 20 years to five years for those invest in the technology.
The Albanese government is facing fresh pressure over gambling reform after Australians lost more than $104 billion in the three years since being handed the Murphy review, while the Greens and the Coalition have forced its proposed legislation to a Senate inquiry.
Older Australians have seen their wealth grow eight times faster than younger generations over the past two decades, but a Senate inquiry has heard housing inequality is no longer just a generational issue. The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) told a public hearing in Sydney that the issue extended well beyond the divide between younger and older Australians.
Australia’s rental crisis is a policy choice, not an unavoidable consequence of market forces, a Senate inquiry has heard, with advocates arguing governments are failing to deliver the stability, affordability and security people deserve from a home.
