Meet Jim Chalmers: The only person in Australia who is 'relaxed' about the nation's housing crisis

Sky News AU

6 days ago

It must be nice to be relaxed about Australia's housing crisis.
That's what Jim Chalmers assured us he felt following leaked Treasury advice saying Labor's housing construction goal of 1.2 million homes by 2029 is set to fail.
He must be the only person in the country who's relaxed about the housing crisis.
Renters aren't relaxed.
They were dealt more bad news that even a limited, disingenuous version of their dream - seas of cheap houses in far outer suburbs - wasn't going to be delivered either.
More than 30 per cent of dwellings in Australia are rented, according to latest Census data.
In most of these dwellings live people who want to achieve the Australian dream of ownership.
They know that if they want to own, their options are to either beat out scores of other renters for overpriced shoeboxes in the major cities or pack their bags to head to areas far beyond where they want to live.
Or to just resign themselves to keep renting forever.
Both major parties know this, and yet are completely unable to put together a policy that solves the problem.
They've got their big bold visions - 1.2 million new homes by 2029 if you're Labor and the ability to dip into your super if you're Liberal.
Except that number of homes has no chance of being built and letting one renter dip into their super lets everyone else do it too, not bringing down the price of homes.
So when their bold ideas for the future are exposed, the parties move on to their chosen scapegoats.
Young people can't afford houses because of boomers hoarding property if you're on the left, or because unchecked migrants take all the new homes if you're on the right.
That can keep people on side for a while, because it 'feels right' - it reflects the narrative different political sides have of what's ailing our country.
On surface level, Labor should be congratulated for at least identifying that the problem is a lack of supply.
Except fixing our housing crisis will take much more than a loud promise delivered in the lead up to an election - and one with a convenient due date that comes in at a time Albanese and Chalmers are not likely to be in their current roles.
The staggering truth is that it is too hard to build property in Australia, despite the incredible demand for it.
The ABS have said in the 12 months to March 31, 179.000 dwellings were built.
For us to get to 1.2 million homes by 2029, we need to be building 240,000 dwellings a year.
But don't worry, Jim Chalmers is relaxed about it.
Master Builders Association CEO Dentia Wawn told Sky News Business Now that 'the private market has simply said it is too costly to build' in Australia, and that 'we've got a productivity issue that we need to address'.
Demand for housing in Australia is so high that Sydney is the second most expensive city in the world to buy property in, according to Canstar.
Melbourne is the seventh.
And yet instead of being a lucrative business fighting off new entrants to market with a stick, it is too expensive for the private market to build in Australia.
Figuring out why this is the case is of utmost importance.
Which NIMBY laws skyrocketing the costs of development in inner city areas need to go?
What regulations preventing housing being built in suburbs need to be repealed?
It's a mammoth problem that will take years to overcome.
It is going to take monumental focus and effort from our political leaders, all the while being watched by increasingly desperate renters getting angrier and angrier.
But that's all OK, because Jim Chlamers is relaxed about it.
James Bolt is a SkyNews.com.au contributor