State Government apathy fuels housing crisis, but there’s an easy fix

The chorus of voices calling out State Government inaction on the regional housing crisis is growing. This time it’s business people in the Riverina city of Griffith saying “get a move on”.

Griffith City Council Chambers. Picture: Supplied.

A leading regional business group has called out the State Government for its failure to respond to the housing shortage in country NSW.

Griffith Business Chamber president John Nikolic said the government had “consistently failed” to pull levers readily within its reach to increase the supply of housing.

Mr Nikolic, who is also a senior solicitor, said repeated requests for the government to work with council on the community usage of currently vacant Crown Land in the city had fallen on deaf ears.

“We’re not asking the government for money, we’re calling on it to implement cost neutral measures to address this critical issue,” he said.

“The lack of housing is not a wicked policy issue - or if it is, that’s only because of government inaction.”

Griffith Business Chamber president John Nikolic. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Nikolic said several parcels of Crown Land in the city had been sitting empty for decades.

“We are facing a market failure in terms of housing supply, so it’s appropriate that the public sector intervene,” he said.

“That doesn’t require grants of money; it just requires the release of unused land. Affordable housing is a community asset, just like public hospitals, so it’s appropriate that community land be made available to enable it to be built on, to better serve our communities.

“The social and economic ripple effect would be profound. It would enable us to reduce homelessness at the bottom end as more housing becomes available. This would open the way for more low to middle income workers and families to relocate to regional areas.”

Mr Nikolic said Griffith was a robust and strong local regional economy, with a gross regional product exceeding $2 billion. As a local government area, Griffith was the second largest contributor to the Basin economy.

Griffith City Mayor Doug Curran. Picture: Supplied.

“Our growth is constrained by a lack of workers and the houses for them to live in,” Mr Nikolic said. “Our businesses are constantly recruiting, but even when they can find workers it’s a scramble to house them, and a lack of supply has severe social impacts, including overcrowding of rental accommodation.

“Housing must come first so that we can then attract and reliably retain workers. Once that happens, our economy would be unshackled and could expand to meet actual demand.”

Mr Nikolic said frequent requests by council and the chamber for the State Government to release the shackles on empty Crown Land in the city had so far fallen on deaf ears.

“The land just needs to be made available,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be gifted. It could be leased on a long-term peppercorn basis and would in fact increase in value once improved through the construction of housing.”

Mr Nikolic said the government’s Seasonal and Temporary Worker Accommodation Guidelines had been in draft form since August 2023, leaving rural councils like Griffith scratching their heads at the unexplained delay.

Mr Nikolic said the housing shortage was “a hand around the throat of Griffith’s economic development”.

His comments follow those of Griffith mayor Doug Curran who said earlier this week plans for more than 2500 new homes in the city were in limbo due to a lack of State Government support.

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Originally published as State Government apathy fuels housing crisis, but there’s an easy fix