People power to break paralysis over housing crisis

A powerful alliance of business, social and youth leaders have launched a new Amplify people-powered movement to help break the housing crisis political impasse ahead of next year’s election.

Amplify chief executive Georgina Harrisson is leading a new people-powered movement backed by prominent Australians to lead change on housing ahead of the federal election. Picture: Jane Dempster

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A powerful alliance of business, social and youth leaders are backing an Australian-first community-led policy forum, drawing on real life experiences to break the political impasse and counteract deepening divisions over reforms to fix the housing and rental crisis.

Paul Bassat, co-founder of SEEK and venture capital fund Square Peg, has joined forces with former senior NSW and federal public servant Georgina Harrisson to put housing reform at the heart of their nonpartisan Amplify grassroots movement.

Amplify, established to be independent of political parties, will launch its first in-person and online forums this week, starting a six-month process culminating in 100 Australians being selected to participate in the first Amplification event to be held in Sydney in February.

As Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton clash over competing housing policies ahead of next year’s election, Amplify has positioned housing as its primary focus after polling showed 95 per cent of voters ranked housing availability and affordability as a priority issue.

The poll of 4000 Australians, conducted for Amplify by Resolve in July and August, revealed less than 15 per cent of voters trust the government to make the right decision on housing compared with 53 per cent who believe community-based decisions will deliver better outcomes.

Amplify’s people-led movement is backed by high-profile board members including Tabcorp chief executive and former AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, Bunnings managing director Michael Schneider, inaugural Tech Council of Australia chief executive Kate Pounder and River Capital Group co-founder Suzi Carp. Corporate supporters include CBA, McKinsey, Arnold Bloch Leibler and the Sidney Myer Fund.

Mr Schneider, who operates Australia’s biggest hardware chain which is a major supplier to tradies and construction firms, said Australians are not seeing “tangible outcomes” in response to the complex challenges fuelling the housing crisis.

“Everyone understands the problems today with housing, it’s multidimensional across planning and regulation, confidence in the sector, as well as access to skilled labour,” Mr Schneider said.

“We’re not really seeing tangible outcomes to solve them yet – it’s clear all stakeholders need to do more, both from industry and government. There is a lot of good intentions to solve the housing problem, but we need to ask what is a meaningful way to do this, in a way that builds trust with the community.”

Mr Perrottet – who as NSW premier oversaw major housing reforms including changes to stamp duty that were repealed by the Minns Labor government – said there were too many regulatory and taxation barriers to home ownership.

“Making sure that people can achieve their aspirations to own their own home requires vision that can endure beyond one leader or parliament. Sorting out our nation’s housing crisis is exactly the type of issue that requires collaboration and consensus building across traditional divides both in the community and in our politics,” Mr Perrottet said.

“Government regulation and taxes like stamp duty are significant barriers to home ownership. I believe that we will only make lasting progress on housing affordability if we can take out the politics and focus on the evidence of what works.”

Mr Perrottet said the Amplify process would equip community members “with the knowledge, access to experts and necessary trade-offs to help achieve positive impact … not simply to win votes”.

Amplify polling reveals a damning report card for governments, with 70 per cent of voters agreeing Australians should be playing a central role in finding solutions to the housing crisis, and 84 per cent wanting to better influence housing policy development.

“There is low trust in politicians and government: 84 per cent agree that politicians prioritise winning votes over developing sound policies; 74 per cent agree that short-term thinking dominates Australian political decision-making; only 18 per cent trust political parties, and only 19 per cent trust the federal government,” the polling research said.

Ms Harrisson, chief executive of Amplify and most recently NSW Department of Education secretary, said “the community has spoken – housing is the issue that they want to help solve”.

Amplify will host its first in-person event in Toowoomba on Thursday, attended by 30 community members. “For decades, we have seen this housing problem grow but solutions haven’t met the scale of the challenge. We have built a process that will provide policy makers on all sides with the insights, opportunity and the courage to take real action on housing,” Ms Harrisson said.

Amplify founder and chair Paul Bassat is leading a new people-powered movement, bringing together Australians to devise housing reforms and take them to legislators, governments and decision-makers. Picture: Aaron Francis

“The community has to be at the heart of solving the housing crisis because the solutions inevitably impact on where and how we live and on our connections to family, place and community.”

Mr Bassat, founder of Amplify and one of Australia’s most respected business leaders who launched SEEK in 1997, said “the emphasis on community participation in housing reform is both timely and crucial”.

He said Australians’ deserved a “sense of ownership” over the housing crisis and to have their own personal experiences feed into policy development.

“With such low trust in the government to make the right decisions on housing, the Amplification provides a platform for diverse voices, ensuring that reforms are reflective of real needs and experiences,” Mr Bassat said.

“By facilitating dialogue among a representative group of Australians, Amplify aims to foster a sense of ownership over the housing crisis, which we believe is essential in helping to achieve meaningful solutions.”

A group of Community Heroes consisting of Australians of the Year Local Hero and Seniors winners and finalists will shortlist housing reforms in areas such as demand and supply, tax treatment of homes, access to finance, tenancy regulation, social housing stock, land use planning and construction industry capacity.