Treasury’s housing conclusion supports population pause.
According to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA), The Australian Treasury’s “accidental” release on housing supply is an admission of the following:
- Huge environmental and economic costs to build and maintain infrastructure for a rapidly expanding population.
- The government’s target for 1.2 million homes by mid-2029 is an illusion.
- Higher taxes are required to support public infrastructure costs.
SPA experts are available to comment, including Peter Strachan, SPA National President, and Michael Bayliss, lead author of SPA report “The Housing Crisis is a Population Crisis.”
Mr Peter Strachan, National President, Sustainable Population Australia
Comments attributable to Mr Strachan:
“What possible purpose can be offered for this growth and how does it improve the lives of existing Australian residents and new arrivals? Australians can see that migrants add to demand for housing which lifts costs.”
“Sadly, the Treasury report also shows a disturbing lack of clear thinking in respect of concepts such as seeking more immigrant labour to build housing faster for more migrants.”
“The treasury ignores the environment costs, such as the greenhouse emissions that result from building 1.2 million new homes.”
“It ignores the 10 quarters of negative GDP per person that have been experienced by Australians because of rapid population expansion over the past 3-years.”
Mr Michael Bayliss, Spokesperson and co-author of “The Housing Crisis is a Population Crisis”, Sustainable Population Australia
Comments attributable to Mr Bayliss:
“The Australian Treasury’s release on housing supply unintentionally supports the findings of the SPA report The Housing Crisis Is a Population Crisis.”
“The key finding from our report was that it is demand growth rather than supply constraints that has pushed up housing prices.”
“The connection between population growth – driven by high immigration – and high housing inflation is often ignored or denied in political circles but is accepted as an undeniable fact by almost everyone knowledgeable about the property industry.”
“Lower, well-targeted immigration will not cause intractable skills shortages or unmanageable population ageing, but will reduce housing stress and inequality, and improve environmental amenity.”