2022-05-13
We can fix WA’s housing crisis - and it starts with making the billionaires and the big corporations pay their fair share
The property market is rigged for speculators and wealthy investors, buying a home is well out of reach for too many West Australians - and we deserve better, writes Senator Dorinda Cox.
As a mother of two girls, I don’t want my kids to grow up and not be able to buy a house anywhere near where they live. Across WA, it’s often too expensive for many people to both pay rent and save for a deposit at the same time. Our housing market is in crisis - and rates are on the way up. Where are the politicians’ big ideas on this?
The Labor and Liberal parties are the Coles and Woolies of politics. For the Liberals, affordable housing just isn’t on their radar. Sure enough, Anthony Albanese came to WA and had a bit to say about housing - but as usual, it didn’t go far enough to tackle the real issues we face out west.
Housing unaffordability is not inevitable - it is the result of deliberate public policy choices made by governments. It’s time to make a different choice.
Whether you are renting a home or buying one, a housing system should work for people, not profit. Our Greens plan to address WA’s housing crisis tackles this head-on.
That’s why the Greens will push to build 118,900 homes in Western Australia over the next twenty years as part of our plan to build one million affordable homes across Australia to tackle the housing crisis.
People who have been locked out of a home due to skyrocketing prices and a housing system stacked against them will be able to own a high-quality sustainable house and make it their home. We’ll build homes that have good insulation, are near public transport options, and are gas-free. With electricity prices going through the roof and the hip pocket hit harder than ever, we will invest in clean, green renewable energy and get our homes and businesses off dirty, climate-destroying coal and gas - replacing this with cheap, green solar and wind.
“In a property market rigged for speculators and wealthy investors, buying a home is well out of reach for most people. In WA, it’s currently too expensive for many people to both pay rent and save for a deposit. Our @Greens plan will address WA’s housing crisis head-on.
— Senator Dorinda Cox (@dorinda_cox) April 11, 2022
How will we do this? In balance of power, the Greens will push for billionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share of tax so we can build affordable housing and create a better future for our kids. When a WA nurse is paying more tax than Clive, Gina and their billionaire mates, you know you’ve got a problem.
Our policy has been fully costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office. Building thousands of new homes for WA can be done, we just have to tax the billionaires like Cive and Gina and make sure they pay their fair share.
Dorinda Cox is the Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia.