Latest news with #ClareO'Neil
West Australian
3 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Experts cast doubt on Australia's ‘aspirational' new 1.2 million housing target
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil is now emphasising the 1.2 million homes target is a 'national aspiration' in a softening of the government's language since the election. The shift comes as experts and Treasury cast doubt on whether building that many homes is achievable in the timeframe. Across Australia, about 178,700 new homes were built in 2024-25, the first year of the five-year national housing accord that set the target. That falls 61,300 short of the average number needed to be built each year to hit the goal by mid-2029. Ms O'Neil said on Friday she was doing all she could as minister 'to make sure that we meet the target or get as close to it as we can', while repeatedly calling it a 'national aspiration'. She made similar comments in June, but not during the election campaign. It echoes language in the National Housing Accord signed by Premiers and the Prime Minister in 2022. They agreed to 'an initial, aspirational national target of delivering a total of one million new, well-located homes over five years from 2024'. It lifted to 1.2 million a year later. 'We've got a housing crisis that's been cooking in our country for 40 years, and whatever debates there may be about housing policy, one thing is for absolute certain, the real answer to the housing challenges facing our country is to build, build, build,' Ms O'Neil said. 'We've got to build more homes more quickly, because more housing means more affordable housing for Australians.' The federal view is that there needs to be a massive, collective push from all levels of government if Australia is to get close to meeting the 1.2 million home target, since it's more than has ever been built in any five-year period. The closest was in the five years to the end of 2019, when almost 1.05 million homes were built, analysis from property data firm Cotality found. However, its head of research Eliza Owen pointed out that in that period, interest rates were far lower, more units were being approved, and investors made up a bigger proportion of demand. Treasury advice has also cast doubt on whether the target will be met. Government data shows the number of homes built increased by 2 per cent in 2023-24 compared with the year prior. If that growth rate continues over the next five years, the nation will build just under 930,000 new homes — suggesting growth needs to speed up considerably to reach the 1.2 million stretch goal. The Commonwealth is directly funding the construction of 55,000 social and affordable homes (28,000 of which are currently in planning or construction) and 100,000 properties reserved for first-time buyers, to contribute to the 1.2 million target. Properties built by Defence Housing Australia, such as the hundreds under construction near Rockingham to accommodate an influx of families related to AUKUS, will also count towards it. '(The target) is bold, it's ambitious, but I can tell you that that's exactly what's needed,' Ms O'Neil told Radio National. 'We've got to get states, territories, local government and the private sector working together better on housing, and that's the reason why we've got this target in place. 'Having a big, difficult target is exactly the kind of thinking that is going to need to snap us out of what is a 40-year-old problem confronting our country.' The Federal government is acutely aware it doesn't hold the planning levers and is reliant on state and local governments. It also sees the need for a cultural shift to counter the NIMBYism, where neighbours in established suburbs can hold up developments – including the one Ms O'Neil used for a media appearance on Friday morning – by pursuing objections through local councils and courts. The minister met local governments on Wednesday as part of the pre-roundtable discussions and will also speak with her state and territory counterparts. Cotality's Eliza Owen said policies aimed at pre-fabricated construction and labour mobility sounded like they would be heading in the right direction, although could come with added costs. She pointed to the increase in dwelling approvals in June, particularly for units, as a sign things were speeding up. 'A combination of the right policy action and lower interest rates will help increase dwelling completions,' she told The Nightly. Approvals were up 11.9 per cent in June, and 27.4 per cent on the year earlier. Building starts were also up 17 per cent in the March quarter compared to 12 months earlier. Ms Owen argued that speeding up approvals was not necessarily the main game in fixing the problem, because it appeared to be adding to an already packed pipeline of projects. But she cautioned that history showed 'you can't just look at the supply side' without controlling demand. 'We allowed a lot of that new demand (leading up to 2019) to be investment, off-the-plan apartment sales,' she said. 'And while that's not inherently a bad thing in itself, it did see a decline in the rate of home ownership, corners cut on dwelling construction, and pretty poor return for those investors over the long term.' Shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg accused Ms O'Neil of seeking to pre-emptively shift blame if the target wasn't met. 'The Labor Government promised to build 1.2 million homes by July 1, 2029. If they don't, they can't blame it on the States or the RBA. They will have lied to the Australian public,' he said.
AU Financial Review
05-08-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Labor gives ground on removing construction red tape
The property sector expects the Albanese government will use the productivity roundtable to reduce planning red tape and review the national construction code to encourage construction. After meeting with federal Housing Minister Clare O'Neil in Melbourne, Property Council chief executive Mike Zorbas told an industry event in Sydney the minister was 'very keen to back' a Productivity Commission review of the code. No government decision on a review has yet been made.
West Australian
14-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Jim Chalmers doubles down after Treasury advice revealed Albanese Government can't meet 1.2m housing target
The Government will not meet its 1.2 million homes target and cannot fix the budget without raising taxes and cutting spending, according to leaked advice from Treasury bureaucrats. In advice released by mistake in a freedom of information request, the Treasurer's department warned in its post-election ministerial briefing the target to build 1.2 million by mid-2029 'would not be met' and suggested changing it. The briefing offered ministers options to speed up housing construction and better leverage existing grants to States, identified a 'dysfunctional' funding model for infrastructure such as water and sewerage connections, and said there were challenges with the responsiveness, capability and speed of key agency Housing Australia. It also advised 'tax should be raised as part of a broader tax reform' and 'improvements to the budget will need to come from economic growth, additional revenue and spending reductions'. Another crackdown on superannuation tax breaks for wealthy Australians was suggested. The information was released to the ABC, which was asked to delete the document released under freedom of information laws after it realised it had not blacked out several headings and subheadings from redacted sections. The ABC said it decided to publish details because they provide insight into the department's thinking of key economic issues facing Australia. Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday said he was 'pretty relaxed' about the accidental release of the document, which also canvassed tax reform and global economic volatility. 'The point that the incoming government brief makes is the same point that I've been making (Housing Minister) Clare O'Neil and others have been making, is that we will need more effort to reach that substantial, ambitious housing target,' he said. 'We're investing tens of billions of dollars. We're working well with the States and territories and local governments. We're engaging with the industry. We're trying to get the capital flowing. I've changed the tax arrangements for build-to-rent… but we'll need to do better, and we'll need to do more. And the advice just reflects that.' Master Builders Australia estimates, based on housing approvals figures from May, that the nation will build just over a million homes by mid-2029 at the current construction rate. This falls short of the target by almost 160,000 homes, or 13.3 per cent. In WA, Master Builders estimates more than 125,000 homes will be built over that time, falling short of the State's share of the target by 3.4 per cent. Dr Chalmers insisted the target could still be met and said it wasn't a mistake to aim so high. 'We'd rather have a big, ambitious, difficult target, and work around the clock to meet it in all of the ways that I've run through today, than to continue the approach of our predecessors, which was to build too few homes,' he said. 'It's not the worst thing from time to time for it to be understood in the broader community that this will be a difficult target to meet, but if we all do our bit, we all play our part … then we can build the homes that people desperately need.'
West Australian
08-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Australian news and politics live: Labor focused on cost-of-living relief after RBA decision to hold rates
Scroll down for the latest news and updates. US President Donald Trump has indicated a potential 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals, which are among Australia's largest exports to the US. However, he said manufacturers would be given time to relocate production to America to avoid the tariff. The US president also mentioned that copper could face a 50 per cent tariff. Speaking to reporters before a cabinet meeting, Mr Trump said drug manufacturers would receive a grace period to move their operations to the US. 'We're going to give (drug manufacturers) about a year, a year and a half to come in, and after that, they're going to be tariffed,' he said. Read the full story here. As digital payments rise, Australia plans to mandate cash acceptance for essential goods and services starting in 2026. Currently, businesses can refuse cash, but that will soon change. It comes as the New Zealand First party introduced a bill requiring businesses to accept cash payments for purchases under NZ$500. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil says 'that's something that the Government is actually looking at at the moment. The Treasurer announced we're going to mandate that businesses across the country for essential goods and services do need to continue to accept cash,' while speaking to Sunrise. 'The Government absolutely recognises for lots of Australians it's important to them. We see a lot of elderly people who for them cash is their mainstay.' 'It's important we operate in an economy where people have choices. We're looking at the exact implementation of this at the moment. We think cash is actually still really important.' Housing Minister Clare O'Neil has acknowledged the disappointment felt by millions of Australians after the Reserve Bank's surprise decision to keep interest rates on hold at 3.85 per cent. 'Millions of Australians were hoping for a rate cut yesterday and as you say, that is very much what all of were predicting. But the RBA has chosen to keep rates on hold. What the RBA told us yesterday is this is about pace not direction. The RBA has already cut interest rates twice this year and kind of indicating that they want to keep moving on that but they're being very cautious,' she told Sunrise on Wednesday. Ms O'Neil stressed that the government's main focus remains easing cost-of-living pressures, highlighting new supports like increased childcare benefits, bill supplements, and wage rises for minimum wage earners. She added, 'It shows we're over the worst of the cost of living issues facing the country but we've still got a long way to go. The Government is firmly focused on that task.' 'I want my community and people around the country not to be struggling in the way they are, so of course I was hoping for an interest rate decrease from the Reserve Bank, but we are very respectful of the independence of this institution. There's a good reason we don't put politicians in charge of setting interest rates.'
Perth Now
02-07-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Major update on Labor's $10bn housing plan
Labor has rubber-stamped funding for 5001 new social homes across every state and territory set to be built under it flagship Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), despite criticisms the $10bn fund has yet to build any new homes. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil will confirm on Thursday that more than 18,000 homes are now under the construction or planning using funding from the HAFF, with Labor targeting the creation of 55,000 social and affordable homes by June 30, 2029. Of the 55,000 homes, the HAFF, which offer loans and grants to incentivise developers to build social and affordable housing, will contribute 40,000 dwellings. The latest round of funding is set to deliver an extra 5001 homes with 1535 earmarked for NSW, 1275 in Victoria, and 1005 in Queensland. Investment is also expected to build 515 homes in Western Australia, 149 Tasmania, 335 in South Australia and 187 across the ACT and Northern Territory. More than 18,000 homes funded through the HAFF are currently under planning or construction. NewsWire / Gaye Gerard Credit: NewsWire The fund has been criticised for having yet to deliver any purpose-built homes since it was established on November 1, 2023, with former opposition leader Peter Dutton threatening to scrap the policy if the Coalition claimed government. As it stands, 370 homes have been delivered through the HAFF through instances of developers releasing more homes onto the market, or the purchasing or conversion of homes into affordable or social stock. Lagging construction times for homes are also an issue. Across Australia it takes an average of 10.3 months to build a detached house from commencement to completion, with townhouses taking 12.9 months and build times for an apartment stretching out to 27.8 months, according to ABS figures from October 2024. However fresh figures released on Wednesday found housing approvals had increased by 3.2 per cent to 15,212 in May, however the pipeline still puts Australia behind the ambitious 1.2 million National Housing Accord target. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said the HAFF was 'hitting its stride'. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Ms O'Neil welcomed the speedy approvals of the 5001 homes, and said the program was 'hitting its stride'. 'Every one of these homes represents hope for a family doing it tough – whether it's a mum escaping violence, a veteran needing somewhere safe, or a nurse priced out of her own community,' she said. 'This round was progressed much faster than previous rounds with more than 18,000 homes now in stages of building and planning, a clear sign that the HAFF is hitting its stride. 'We're creating a pipeline of homes that will make a difference for decades.' In NSW, where $1.2bn of funding has been committed across 14 projects, state Housing Minister Rose Jackson said dwellings will give 'thousands of people the stability and dignity they deserve'. 'In just one year, we've delivered the biggest increase in public, social and affordable housing for NSW in over a decade – this new funding means we can build even more,' she said.
