Premier ‘can’t bring peace to Middle East’ to solve housing crisis

Premier Steven Miles has dismissed fears the crippling construction materials and worker shortages will make his plan to build one million new homes by 2046 unachievable.

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Premier Steven Miles has dismissed fears the crippling construction materials and worker shortages will make his plan to build one million new homes by 2046 unachievable.

Mr Miles released his $3.1bn Homes for Queenslanders plan at the Queensland Media Club on Tuesday, promoting an ambitious plan to deliver 53,500 social houses in 22 years.

The Premier came under fire for the state government’s record of housing delivery since it was elected in 2015, and faced questions about whether the target was achievable.

About 5000 social homes have been built by Labor since it came to power in 2015.

Asked about how construction and supply chain shortages would affect the target of building 2000 homes a year, Mr Miles said the trajectory was heading in the right direction.

“What we have seen is an upward trend in the number delivered so I think the average over that period is 700, and we’ve got it closer than 1200 so that the trajectory is right – we need to keep increasing that increase to get to 2000,” he said.

“In some of those years we’ll need to deliver more than 2000.”

The Premier said the housing shortage was a “wicked problem” caused by complex factors, including strong migration and global events.

Premier Steven Miles at the Queensland Media Club. Picture: John Gass/NCA NewsWire

“I can’t get Russia to pull out of ... Ukraine, I can’t bring peace to the Middle East, but we can work with the levers we have and the power we have and do the best we can,” he said.

LNP housing spokesman Tim Mander accused the government of being focused on plans instead of delivery.

“This is just another dot-point plan that adds to the number of dot-point plans, roundtables and housing summits that have occurred over the term of the Labor government,” he said.

“None of these have come to fruition.”

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon acknowledged “more needs to be done”.

When you look back in the history of social housing in this state we saw significant investment and increases in public housing, similar to the scale that we’re proposing here, during the GFC and during the nation building era.

“We want to get back there because we know that’s what’s needed here in Queensland, we are raising the bar we know that more needs to be done.”

Mr Miles revealed he had lobbied the Albanese federal government to consider prioritising or fast-tracking visas for construction workers with construction skills.

“We’ve seen a massive surge in migration nationally and all of those people need homes as well as all the other infrastructure that we’re building,” he said. “It makes sense to prioritise those who can help us build those homes.”