Housing gets new clout in Canberra after cabinet shake-up

Housing has gained an extra seat at the table in national politics after a new special envoy was revealed in the federal government’s cabinet shake-up.  

Prime minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the new cabinet on Monday, with Macnamara MP Josh Burns appointed as the new special envoy for social housing and homelessness.  

Housing and homelessness minister Clare O’Neil, who represents the Melbourne seat of Hotham, has retained her frontbench roles, and gained the additional position of minister for cities.  

Housing was an important issue for voters at the federal election, as first-home buyers struggle to get onto the property ladder and the country falls short of building enough new homes.  

“By having a dedicated special envoy focused on social housing and homelessness, this will provide housing minister Clare O’Neil with the ability to pull out all stops and focus on fast tracking the implementation of the key housing commitments set out in the lead up to the election to boost housing supply and increase home ownership rates,” Housing Industry Association managing director Jocelyn Martin said.

Community Housing Industry Association chief executive Wendy Hayhurst said Mr Burns brought tremendous expertise and enthusiasm to this critical new role.

“As co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Housing, he has consistently demonstrated his commitment to addressing the severe shortage of social housing and finding effective solutions to homelessness,” Ms Hayhurst said.

Building more social housing has been a priority for the Albanese government, having created the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) in its previous term to help fund social and affordable housing.  

More than 220,000 households were on the social housing waitlist in Australia at the start of the year, with almost 110,000 households in greatest need on the priority waitlist, according to Mission Australia.  

The government credited the HAFF with $10 billion to invest, using the investment returns to provide grants and loans to boost social housing across the country. 

Last September, the government announced the HAFF’s first round of funding, saying that the funding would help deliver more than 13,700 social and affordable homes.  

The federal government provided a $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator payment in its previous term to the states to boost social housing stock, as well as broader funding to try and build more homes overall.  

Election promises   

The government made a range of housing promises during the election campaign, and will now come under increasing pressure to deliver more homes and housing affordability following its election landslide. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers visited an almost completed social and affordable housing project in Brisbane during the election campaign. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

It pledged $10 billion to build up to 100,000 new homes for first-home buyers as part of a plan to put forward available government-owned land for housing development. 

The government promised access to 5% home deposits for first-home buyers through its expanded Home Guarantee Scheme, and an expansion of its Help to Buy shared equity scheme. 

It promised to soften home lending rules for borrowers so that banks could exclude HECS student debts from mortgage applications, in addition to more housing commitments.  

The Albanese government has promised at least $43 billion to housing and homelessness since coming to power in 2022.  

It wants to build 1.2 million new, well-located homes over the five years to mid-2029 as part of the National Housing Accord.