Recall that failed Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, who drove the rental crisis by overseeing the largest immigration spike in the nation’s history, was appointed Australia’s Housing Minister because she excels at spin.
She [O’Neil] remains in cabinet and has now moved to minister for housing and homelessness — a portfolio that needed a stronger communicator at a time when anger about housing is at record highs.
The government believes the housing portfolio needs its strongest, sharpest public performer since the housing debate has been largely lost by Labor so far.
In only her first few weeks on the job, O’Neil has already been accused of misleading parliament by making up expert evidence on the housing crisis.
From my cousin, Peter van Onselen:
Just two weeks since she was dumped from the home affairs ministry after a series of scandals and errors in the portfolio, Clare O’Neil has been caught out yet again.
This time the new housing minister has seemingly misled the parliament, making up expert quotes on Monday, caught out on Tuesday, after already being forced to apologise for making up economic modelling she attributed to Treasury just days ago.
It’s already been a horror run for O’Neil in her new role and she’s only been in it a fortnight, with one Labor MP sarcastically asking Daily Mail Australia ‘is it too soon for another reshuffle?’ in response to the minister’s failed performance in Question Time today…
Clare O’Neil will soon find out that opening the immigration floodgates is far easier than coaxing the private sector into building 1.2 million homes over five years—a volume of homes that has never been achieved before:
Rather than slashing demand by lowering net overseas migration to sensible and sustainable levels that are compatible with the nation’s capacity to build housing and infrastructure, Anthony Albanese has attempted to spin his way out of the housing crisis by appointing his queen of word salads.
