Why Australia gets no action on housing affordability

Advertisement

By Leith van Onselen

For decades it has been a common axiom in Australian politics that the overwhelming majority Australians want their homes to rise in value. And since homeowners outnumber renters, making changes to actually deliver affordable housing is akin to political suicide.

Former Prime Minister, John Howard, admitted as much when he once said that no one was going to complain about their house prices going up.

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:
Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe
About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.