The function of public housing is to provide a means of ensuring all Australians have equity of access to secure shelter. Security and equity of access to sustenance and shelter are the twin foundations on which our society is built. In the absence of either of these two basic building blocks there is no society, there is no community, there is no family.
The federal government had very limited involvement in housing until the World War of 1939-45. A review of Australia’s social security system concluded that housing was an essential element of achieving a fairer society. The Commonwealth Housing Commission, in the letter of transmittal accompanying its final report, said: “We consider that a dwelling of good standard and equipment is not only the need but the right of every citizen – whether the dwelling is to be rented or purchased, no tenant or purchaser should be exploited for excessive profit.” The review and subsequent report resulted in the series of Commonwealth State Housing Agreements from 1945 to 2000 that underpin the Public Housing system across Australia.
If public housing in its true format, i.e., government owned and operated infrastructure, was to disappear, the impact on the community would be both huge and immediate. The price of housing in the non-government sector, whether rental or purchased, would dramatically increase from its already very unaffordable levels.
The increase would be due to those renting in the public housing sector being displaced into the non-government sector where price is set solely by supply and demand. The increased demand at the bottom end of the market, based on both local and overseas experiences, would flow upwards in the form of higher prices throughout the entire marketplace. It would also have a similar impact on the “purchase” market. The Grattan Institute’s recently released Renovating Housing Policy report both identifies and quantifies the adverse impact of current government policy on housing affordability in Australia. It covers both the rental and “purchase” market.
The failure of the government at state and federal levels to embrace and maintain the concept expressed in the original Commonwealth State Housing Agreement of 1945 has been due to a number of influences. One of the primary influences has been the lobbying of the Finance Sector. The Finance Sector has a vested interest in the creation/maintenance of higher housing costs, which are reflected in larger mortgages, which in turn maximises the return per transaction for the sector.
Successive governments have attempted to divert attention from their failure to ensure equity of access to secure shelter/housing by vilifying those living in the residual public housing. Once this message has been sold to the general public the government can then justify its withdrawal from owning and operating public housing infrastructure on the grounds that its tenants are now deemed “not worthy” of government “largesse”.
In the wash-up, the government of the day has no demonstrated concern, genuine or otherwise, that its carefully orchestrated withdrawal from owning and operating public housing infrastructure will have an adverse impact on our society. Its membership places a higher value on their personal wellbeing arising from their ongoing employment as politicians, the remuneration from which ensures that they will always be able to afford secure housing and sustenance.
So next time you hear the phrase “public housing” ignore the pollie speak and remember that public housing holds down your personal cost of housing.
