Sydney, Australia — When Mary votes in Australia’s national elections on Saturday, the country’s chronic shortage of affordable housing is the number one in her mind.
For two years, the 59-year-old former postal worker has been staying at a local New South Wales short-term accommodation with his daughter and dog.
Mary receives income from Australia’s two-week geriatric pension of 1051.30 (USD 673) and seasonal hospitality and retail, but cannot afford median rent in a home or apartment worth $560 (USD 360) a week.
Asking her to be introduced by her name, Mary attempted to apply for a social housing, but was told the waiting list was “very, very long.”
“We rented rent and we landed here even if we didn’t have a job,” Mary told Al Jazeera.
“Now I have to pay to keep our lives and keep everything missing. A situation where I didn’t think I was in myself.”
Mary intends to vote for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Center Left Labour Party.
“Neither party is enough, but I will probably vote for Labour. I will not vote for Union,” she told Al Jazeera, referring to Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal Party and the country-focused Nationalist Party.
“I think they are not transparent, but rooted in fluff covering their bank balances and their elitist peers.
Australian property and rental prices are one of the biggest issues in the election race, dominated by concerns over rising costs of living.
Australia, where property is a national obsession, is home to some of the highest home prices on the planet.
Sydney, the country’s largest city, ranks as the second most affordable market from 94 urban centres around the world, according to the latest demographic international housing affordability survey, with a price-to-revenue ratio of 13.8.
A study by real estate consultancy Proptrack found that Sydney households need to make around Australian dollars ($180,000) a year to provide a median home price of $1.4 million ($0.9 million).
Both Labour and the Union have announced many housing policies to attract voters who have been voting early since April 22, but say campaigners aren’t ready to tackle the root cause of the problem.
Labour has pledged to build 100,000 homes for first-time buyers and increase financial support, but the Liberal Party has trained more construction apprentices, invested in critical infrastructure, allowing young Australians to withdraw their pensions early to pay for housing deposits.
The parties also aim to be foreign buyers and immigrants, and earlier this year, the Albaneseans announced a two-year ban on non-citizens buying existing homes.
Economists point out supply shortages as the fundamental cause of the housing crisis.
According to the Economic Cooperation and Development Agency, Australia had the lowest housing stock in developed countries at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with around 400 homes per 1,000 people.
Since then, housing supply has improved somewhat, but far outweighed by demand driven by record inward movement.
Australia’s population rose 2.1% in 2024.
In particular, the construction of social housings has fallen on the side of the road.
In 2023, there were 169,000 households on the waiting list for public housing, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Yumi Lee, chief executive of Elderly Women’s Network NSW, said that many older women, especially find it difficult to secure housing, as they have less pensions compared to their male peers.
A 2021 kpmg report found that women aged 60-64 years olds on average cost $57,207 ($36,608 USD) in pension pots than men.
“We’re called the so-called lucky country, but many older women have to choose between food, medicine, or rent. It’s not a matter of luck, it’s a matter of negligence,” Lee told Al Jazeera.
Chris, a 71-year-old pensioner at Blue Mountains near Sydney, said he became homeless last year after being forced to sell his family’s home after divorce.
“I heard the story after the story of this kind of thing happening,” Chris, who asked to use the pseudonym, told Al Jazeera.
Experts say a variety of factors are exacerbating the housing shortage, including nymbiism and a shortage of merchants.
What’s even more controversial is that housing advocates are responsible for negative gearing. This is a type of tax cut that allows landlords to amortize losses arising from investment property.
After pledging to reduce negative gearing, Labour abandoned the proposal after the 2022 election was defeated for the second consecutive time.
Maiy Azize, a national spokesman for everyone’s home in the Pressure Group, said neither of the major parties appears willing to address the issue.
“This is a crisis that took decades to create and it will take decades to fix it, but we need someone to step up and take the first step,” Azize told Al Jazeera.
“If parties were inclined to really increase social housing and launch programs that do that tax reform, they could have had a huge impact very quickly, but that’s time to fix,” she said.
Bernie Barrett, CEO of Better Renting, said it is a positive step for federal and state governments to develop a nationally consistent rental law.
“Around 30% of Australians rent homes. Despite our very large demographic, our issues are largely ignored by politicians and policymakers,” the organization rated the workforce as “slow” and “deteriorating” and “liberals” in progress in rental policy.
Andrea Leon, a 38-year-old renter and microbiologist who lives with the voters of Griandler in New South Wales, Albanese, said she feels she is being ignored by both major political parties.
“In Australia, we were given this idea that owning a home is an Australian dream. Renting your home is considered an unfortunate or temporary situation,” Leon told Al Jazeera.
“I want every aspect of Prime Minister and politics to recognize that renting is a legitimate way of life.”
Source link
