Crossbenchers call for citizens assembly on housing affordability to change debate around ‘crisis’

Crossbench MPs and senators, fed up with what they claim is a lack of ambition of all sides of politics to address a major social issue, are calling for change.

Crossbench MPs and senators have joined forces to ask for “a new way of dealing with housing” and are proposing the government establishes a citizens’ assembly in a bid to escape a policy dead-end.

Concerned with what they claim is a lack of ambition of the government, opposition and the Greens to target the issue of affordability, the alliance – led by independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender – says the citizens’ assembly would bring together 100 “randomly selected, but carefully balanced ordinary Australians” with the aim of developing a “consensus for future policy that reflects the needs of everyone”.

The bid comes as the Greens and Labor remain locked in a stalemate over the government’s centrepiece $10 billion housing policy. The crossbenchers say all sides of politics need to look beyond the “small piece of the jigsaw” and seek to make long-term policy changes.

The crossbench doesn’t need the government’s support to establish a citizens assembly, but said it wanted all sides of politics to engage proactively on the issue.

The group has written to Housing Minister Julie Collins and Treasurer Jim Chalmers with a costed proposal to establish the citizens’ assembly on housing affordability, saying that for “less than the price of two average houses, we can start to build a consensus for future policy”.

The crossbench will launch a citizens assembly into housing affordability. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

The assembly would be made up of adult Australians of all ages associated with a range of housing positions – including homeowners, mortgage holders and renters alike, to come together every weekend for eight weeks to find points of agreement.

Suggestions with more than 80 per cent consensus could then be recommended to the parliament.

“Housing affordability … is a long-term policy failure,” Ms Spender said.

“It is hurting Australian families. This is something that has effectively been a slow motion car crash in terms of public policy.

“Over decades of time, we have ended up in a situation where owning your home or having affordable renting is beyond the reach now of many Australians, and it is absolutely not good enough.”

Politics as usual can’t fix our housing crisis, we need a new approach. That’s why today we are calling for a #citizensassembly The goal is to bring together 100 homeowners, renters and mortgage holders and discuss how we can solve Australia’s housing affordability crisis #auspolpic.twitter.com/3R8ZjcZQIE

— Allegra Spender (@spenderallegra) June 14, 2023

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe said when politicians had been around for too long they “continue to come up with stale ideas”.

“We have a right, everyone has a right in this country to have a warm bed and a roof over their heads,” she said.

“And this government, and every other government have failed to do that. So we need to take it to the people – so people can make the decisions, rather than a government.”

Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie said if the national housing crisis were to be solved, “we do need to consult more broadly, and we do need to unlock the political deadlock”.

“Because quite frankly, until we have a way of delivering more crisis accommodation, more social housing, more reform on short term holiday rentals … until we come up with 101 different ways to solve this, then we will not solve this,” he said.

“And it’s really important (we do).”