THOMAS ORITI:
The Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Julie Collins. Minister, good morning. Thank you for your time.
JULIE COLLINS:
Good morning, Thomas, and to your listeners this morning.
ORITI:
The report frames this is a really critical moment for Australia. I don't think it's controversial to say we are in a housing crisis at the moment. You're framing this as an opportunity. Can you tell us, firstly, what are you going to do to fix the housing crisis?
COLLINS:
Well, I think your introduction made the point that if we continue down the current pathway, Thomas, that is not what we intend to do. We intend to change the current pathway and we're working with other tiers of government, with industry and with the sector to change direction. That is the point. We have a historic national agreement at National Cabinet last year that set out changes, particularly to planning and zoning and a blueprint for reform. What we're doing is working with the other tiers of government so that we can turn it around. We also have announced since we've come to office now more than $25 billion in new investments in housing supports and housing. We want to turn this around and we intend to turn it around. We're up for the challenge. We're not apologetic for having a target, a national target. And indeed the report says we should be ambitious and have a target and that is what we're doing. We know that far too many Australians are doing it tough. This is about the people on the ground and we're serious about working with other tiers of government to turn this around. No tier of government is going to do this alone. I think the report clearly lays that out. It says that we all need to put our shoulder to the wheel. All Australians, everybody involved in the housing sector, whether they be community housing providers, whether they be construction organisations, whether it be the banks and the big investors, whether it be governments, we all need to put our shoulder to the wheel to turn this around.
ORITI:
I think everyone would agree, the need for collaboration and we know that there's the blueprint, but I'm still trying to unpack exactly what's going on here because, you know, it's great to have a goal, right, but what about the construction industry, I mean, none of this matters if the houses can't be built. And the report points to a shortage of people and of fresh ideas in the sector. It really is signalling a warning. I mean, what can you do? What are you planning to do to make sure the industry's up to the job? Tell us more about that blueprint.
COLLINS:
Yeah, well, right across government we are working. So, we are, in terms of the planning and zoning blueprint, we've put incentives on the table to incentivise the states and territories to do the reforms that are necessary to make it easier for homes to get on the ground. We are working with the training and skills ministers to make sure that we have more Australians with the skills and the qualifications needed to get more homes on the ground more quickly. The industry minister is working with industry and with the building and construction ministers in the states and territories to look at alternative methods of construction.
ORITI:
Can you give me a sense. Sorry to interrupt that, Minister, but can you give me just an example of. I know there's collaboration, you're working together, but can you give me just an example of what is being done, though? What is an incentive, for example, that's been provided to the construction sector?
COLLINS:
So, we've obviously put $3 billion on the table for the states and territories to do the reform. So, for every home over the 1 million homes that the states and territories build, they will get an incentive payment of $15,000 per dwelling so that they do the reforms that are required. I mean, when you break down the $25 billion in new investments, we obviously have had the Housing Australian Future Fund that we've managed to get through the parliament. We're building more social and affordable homes as a government, a federal government. We are working with the states and territories. The states and territories are also lifting. They are building more social and affordable homes as well. They are doing the planning and zoning reforms on the ground. In the meantime, they are also working on better consistency of renters’ rights and improving renters’ rights across the country. We have increased, obviously, the single biggest increase in the Commonwealth Rent Assistance for renters who we know are doing it tough. We have already provided the states with more than $2 billion for 4000 social homes. I have seen and been talking to ministers about those homes. Some of those homes actually already have people in them and they are on the ground. So, we are moving as quickly as we can at every level across a whole system to get homes on the ground as quickly as we can because we understand how this situation is impacting the people.
ORITI:
I feel like the elephant in the room here is, is, you know, taxation reform and the National Housing Affordability Council wants the government to look at taxation to make things fairer for renters. I mean, Bill Shorten backed away from that. It has been a bit of a political hot potato for a long time, but, you know, is it finally time to reform negative gearing and capital gains. Independents in parliament, the Greens, David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie. They're calling for this. It is on the agenda. Would Labor consider it?
COLLINS:
Look, I think we've been pretty clear that it's not something we're considering at the moment. What we're considering are other measures, such as changes to Build to Rent to get more investment, particularly some of the overseas pension funds, the Canadian pension funds, into Build to Rent of affordable properties. So, we are contemplating some of the taxation changes required at the national level.
ORITI:
Why wouldn't you tackle negative gearing, though? Why would negative gearing not be something you'd want to touch? A lot of people are saying that's part, a huge part of the problem.
COLLINS:
Look, we've been pretty clear. We have a full agenda in terms of reforms that we need to get through, taxation reforms through the parliament. We've just had tax changes, personal tax changes, get through the parliament. We still have the PRRT. We've got our Build to Rent that we need to get through. We have a whole range of multinational tax measures that we are working on. We do have a full agenda when it comes to tax reform at the national level. And the other point that I was trying to make before was we're not the only tier of government with some of these taxation systems, local governments, state governments, the fees and charges. So, we're talking system changes here right across tiers of government. So, I don't think, you know, the focus on just one single thing that the Commonwealth may or may not do is important here. This report says we need systematic change right across all tiers of government. That is the point of today's report. And what we need is everybody putting their shoulder to the wheel to actually deliver that. I've outlined some of the very detailed things that we are doing working with the states and territories. We're also, of course, working with local government and with the industries sector. As I said, about how do we get these homes on the ground more quickly than we currently are.
ORITI:
Before I let you go, the Report also says the resumption of migration at pace is one factor making the housing shortfall perhaps more acute. A lot of talk about that, too. Does that point to a need to slow down migration Minister?
COLLINS:
Well, we've been pretty clear that we're going to rebalance the migration system. We had a report into the migration mess that we were left, in fact, several of them, and we've been busy cleaning that up. What we know is that we need to make some changes to rebalance that. Importantly, we need to make sure that we have more skills coming so that we can construct more homes Thomas, so we're focused on that and our discussions with the immigration and the home affairs minister is making sure that we have people with the skills we need to build the homes that Australia requires. The other thing that the report makes really clear is that we haven't had enough homes in Australia for far too long. This is not a new thing. We have less homes than the OECD average and we have had that for some time. We need to lift and we need to lift for a long time to catch up.
ORITI:
Ok, Minister, we're out of time, but thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it.
COLLINS:
Thanks very much.
ORITI:
Thanks a lot. Julie Collins is the Minister for Housing and Homelessness.