‘I’m disgusted’: Pauline Hanson proposes solution to housing crisis in seething rant

Pauline Hanson has come up with a controversial fix to the nation’s housing crisis, and it has been backed by some Australians.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has set the record straight on why she believes banning foreign buyers is the only solution to overcoming Australia’s relentless housing availability crisis.

Senator Hanson claims she has advocated for tighter rules in respect to who can buy a property on Australian soil since the beginning of the pandemic.

But now, she is urging the government to listen, noting the circumstances have become dire as more families switch their homes for tents.

“(Foreign investors) are buying up so much property and housing in Australia and it‘s disgusting. It makes me so mad that the politicians are not doing anything about it,” she told 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe.

Pauline Hanson says foreign buyers should be banned from purchasing a home in Australia’s housing market. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

According to residential real estate data from the federal Treasury department, 4327 foreign investment proposals were approved between 2020 and 2021, followed by 5433 between 2021 and 2022.

Meanwhile, 4643 applications have been approved for residential purposes so far this year.

Since 2020, foreign investors have paid $17.6 billion to secure a property on Australian shores, with investors mostly coming from China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the United Kingdom and Singapore.

Contrary to popular belief, non-Australians can only buy a residential property if it’s a new building or vacant lot and can only purchase existing dwellings if they commit to a large renovation that will increase housing supply.

However Senator Hanson asserted a lack of scrutiny around whether foreign investors are actually following these rules is allowing them to allegedly get away with disobeying them.

“Chinese buyers are spending about $7 million a day in buying up housing in Australia. Under the law it states that they can only buy new houses but they‘re not, they’re buying all housing establishments as well,” she said.

“(The government) doesn’t investigate this. That’s the problem, there’s no proper investigation … So people are living in tents and caravans in parks. It’s just ridiculous in a country like this.”

Senator Hanson also urged the government to tighten it’s regulations around auditing Foreign buyers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Aaron Francis

Denying the right to the ‘Great Australian Dream’

Senator Hanson claimed the government wants to keep foreign buyers at the cost of Australians because they bring money into the country.

“(The Federal) Government doesn‘t want (to end) it because that brings money into the country and state governments don’t want to get rid of it because they get their stamp duty on housing,” she said.

“It drives up the cost of housing, puts it out of reach of the young ones so anyone who is wanting to buy their own home (gets) into more debt with the banks, (so they) pay more interest for the rest of their lives. It’s just a horrible situation that we find ourselves in.”

When asked whether the situation was “overblown”, Senator Hanson denied advocates were over-exaggerating the issue, rather stating they are the ones who have the best intentions for struggling Australians at heart.

“When you look at it, we are short on housing stock for Australians. That’s it. That’s what it’s about,” she said.

Data obtained from property data platform SQM Research indicates the national rental vacancy rate currently sits at 1.9 per cent, a 0.9 per cent increase from February’s low of 1 per cent.

The national vacancy rate is currently sitting at 1.9 per cent. Picture: Tim Carrafa

This figure equates to at least 39,716 empty homes – a significant decrease from a second all-time high of more than 88,000 vacant homes in April 2020.

“You‘ve got the Chinese, the Vietnamese, you’ve got Indians, you got other people buying property right across Australia … We can’t buy land in their own country so why are we allowing that here?” she questioned.

Ultimately, Senator Hanson argued that by allowing foreign investment to continue, the Albanese government was taking away the right to have access to the “great Australian dream”.

“Foreign investment is not about just buying up the houses … You‘re denying people right in your own country, a right to own a home at a reasonable cost to them, where they are able to have a roof over their head.” she said.

“I don‘t care about these people and money coming into the country when I see my fellow Australian citizens sleeping in parks in tents through this horrible winter. That’s not being a representative of the people of this nation.

“And I’m disgusted with a Prime Minister who does nothing about it, when with just a stroke of a pen, he can actually change it.”

Senator Hanson said she is “disgusted” no one is doing anything to solve the housing crisis. Picture Glenn Hampson

Does Hanson’s solution pass the pub test?

While Senator Hanson’s views are known to typically be controversial, 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe could stop himself from supporting her opinion on this topic.

“Can you argue with anything she said?” he questioned. “Seriously, you might not like Pauline Hanson, but it‘s very difficult to argue with a single thing that came out of her mouth just then.”

And it appears a lot of Australians agreed, with several taking to social media to express their views on the matter.

“Considering most South East Asian countries have that rule that it can‘t be foreign owned, I don’t understand why we don’t do the same,” one person tweeted.

“It should have always been the case, but the government is all about filling their and their mates’ pockets,” another person said.

A third person said: “Yes it‘s a good idea, in Australia there aren’t enough homes. So please keep the buyers in Australia … Please keep our houses for Australians.”

However others disagreed with Senator Hanson’s proposal, with some suggesting such a move would lead to a crash in the market.

“Excellent idea in theory, however if implemented, the mother of all property crashes would occur,” one person said.

Some say banning international buyers could lead to a market crash. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“A better route would be to implement an unoccupancy tax on residential property with a higher rate for non-residents,” another person tweeted.

In rebuttal, another comment read: “The property market should be about people owning homes to live in. Not about owning houses to make a profit. It needs to crash so young people can afford homes for their families.”

According to the latest census data, 66 per cent of Australian households owned their home either with or without a mortgage, while 31 per cent of the nation rented their home.

Meanwhile there were just over one million unoccupied dwellings on census night, with 122,494 people estimated to be experiencing homelessness at the time.