Hitting Home: Pressure mounts for State Government housing summit

As the Treasurer says only the Premier can convene a summit to combat the housing crisis, he has urged all levels of government to step up.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said it was up to the Premier to convene a housing summit amid growing pressure for the Palaszczuk government to respond to the state’s housing crisis.

The comment follows calls from a wide selection of stakeholders and advocates who have pleaded with Annastacia Palaszczuk to hold emergency talks in a bid to alleviate the pressure on Queensland families grappling with homelessness.

The Palaszczuk Government earlier today detailed the role councils could play in addressing the housing crisis, while the opposition has vowed to host its own housing summit.

Mr Dick said the spike in families sleeping in cars and on the streets was due to the surging population but conceded all levels of government needed to step up to provide more homes in the market to match demand.

“Clearly, all levels of government need to be involved in addressing what’s happening with housing in Queensland,” he said.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The Treasurer noted “people are moving here in droves” to capitalise on the state’s lifestyle and booming sectors.

He said there was currently a record spend of about $10 billion in the private housing construction across the state but conceded “we need to build more”.

“We need multiple pipelines to build more houses in Queensland,” the Treasurer said.

Mr Dick said governments at all levels needed to work on freeing up land for construction in response to the decline in the number of available rentals, which has been blamed as the leading cause for the crisis.

“Some councils like the Redlands City Council, for example, need to do more to release more land onto the market,” he said.

“Finance is not the challenge -- we’ve got the challenge of making sure we can get the building supplies and the tradies on site but the way to do that is to free up more land.

“We’ll continue to do what we have to do as a state, but I’ll let the Premier make decisions on whole of government matters like that.”

The Treasurer said there was a variety of issues contributing to the crisis.

He pointed to the increase in owner-occupier purchases in the state, meaning there are less investment properties on the rental market, while also attributing the crisis to a decrease in Queenslanders moving overseas.

HOW COUNCIL CAN HELP WITH HOUSING CRISIS

Deputy Premier and Minister for Local Government and Planning Steven Miles said the government wanted to work with councils to deliver more affordable homes as Queensland experiences a population boom not seen since the 1990s.

But he avoided answering questions on Wednesday about whether the government would convene a housing summit, despite calls from stakeholders for emergency talks to be held by Premier ­Annastacia Palaszczuk to address the crisis.

Mr Miles will announce on Thursday that he has directed the state’s independent Housing Supply Expert Panel to give advice on what more councils should be doing to ­increase land supply for development as housing.

“Addressing housing supply and affordability should be the No.1 priority of local government right now,” Mr Miles said.

“Some councils have out-of-date housing strategies that need to be updated given the population growth we have seen.”

Mr Miles also revealed that he would expand the remit of the expert panel so that it ­covered the entire state.

Steven Miles

“The housing shortage isn’t just in the southeast,” he said.

“People are moving to the regions too and we need to support all our councils to increase housing supply.

“The Far North Queensland councils are aware of this, and I welcome their suggestion to expand the panel’s work to the whole state.”

The Local Government Association of Queensland has previously called for dedicated funding to help councils carry out housing studies and prepare local housing plans.

As the government faces calls to do more to address housing supply and affordability, Mr Miles defended the government’s record and insisted it would continue to explore all viable options.

“Targeting housing needs in Queensland is a key priority for government and along with councils,” he said.

“We are working across government agencies, and with industry and the community to respond to these challenges.

“We are working with key entities such as the Property Council of Australia on how we tackle these ­challenges and better link regional growth decisions with market considerations.”

Mr Miles said the government had committed an extra $200m in catalyst infrastructure funding in the latest state budget for communities such as Caboolture West.

Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch also would not say if the state government would convene its own summit, but would continue to push for a national summit.

“Record interstate migration, rising house prices, very low vacancy rates, Covid-19 and severe weather has sadly created a compounding set of circumstances,” she said.

“The Palaszczuk government is committed to providing more social housing solutions.”

OPPOSITION VOWS TO HOST ITS OWN HOUSING SUMMIT

The state Opposition has vowed to hold its own housing summit if Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk fails to convene one of her own.

The announcement follows calls from stakeholders and advocates for the Premier to hold emergency talks in a bid to tackle the housing crisis.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch would not say on Wednesday if the government would call a summit.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli. Picture: Glenn Barnes

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said if Ms Palaszczuk wouldn’t convene a summit, then he would arrange one himself.

“We need solutions now. The Palaszczuk government’s inaction over the past seven years speaks for itself,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“Queenslanders have rightly had enough.”

The Courier-Mail launched its Hitting Home campaign this week, highlighting calls and support for a summit that would bring together stakeholders with key state government decision makers to take on the crisis.

The Property Council of Australia, Q Shelter, the Queensland Council of Social Service, and St Vinnies are among the advocates and stakeholders who are calling on the government to take action.

Ms Enoch last night said she would continue to push for a national summit on housing, and would raise the idea at a meeting of the country’s housing ministers this week.

“We know there is unprecedented demand on Queensland’s housing market,” Ms Enoch said.

“Record interstate migration, rising house prices, very low vacancy rates, Covid-19 and severe weather has sadly created a compounding set of circumstances.

“These pressures are also being felt nationwide and it will require a coordinated national response to address them.”

She insisted the government was committed to providing more social housing solutions to Queenslanders in need sooner.