Greens call for national rent freeze, moratorium on evictions as housing and fuel crisis deepens
The Greens have demanded that the national cabinet impose a nationwide rent freeze and moratorium on evictions during the fuel crisis, arguing that tenants face the worst housing insecurity in memory.
Greens Leader Senator Larissa Waters said the fuel crisis caused by the ongoing Middle East conflict was “turbocharging” the housing affordability crisis, leaving many people grappling with the prospect of having “nowhere to live”.
Senator Waters highlighted a decision taken by the Victorian state government during the Covid-19 pandemic, where rent increases were frozen for 12 months and there was a moratorium on evictions.
In 2020, former prime minister Scott Morrison announced that the national cabinet had agreed to a set of principles that included a moratorium on evictions, among other measures.
Senator Waters said the government must provide tenants with “critical security” during the fuel crisis.
“There are queues around the corner for tiny, overpriced flats in every capital city in the country, and outside the city the situation is often even worse,” he said on Thursday.
“Many people are facing the truly terrifying reality that they will have nowhere to live for months to come.”
Senator Barbara Pocock, the Greens’ spokeswoman for finance, housing and homelessness, said freezing rents and banning evictions would give people the security they need during a crisis of combined fuel and living costs.
“People are already experiencing financial stress and struggling to make ends meet. This sensible, immediate cost of living relief will support people with the least secure housing,” he said.
“Too many households are just one rent increase away from eviction or homelessness.
“Rents are rising at record rates, forcing people to spend more than 30 percent of their income just to keep a roof over their heads.”
The party’s call comes as social advocacy group AMPLIFY outlined how the government could solve Australia’s housing crisis with the delivery of one million new homes under a bold reform package.
AMPLIFY has released a comprehensive housing plan incorporating the views of more than 18,000 Australians over 18 months in Australia’s largest ever community engagement on housing.
The findings show Australians support stronger reforms as concerns grow about the extent of the crisis; 67 percent believe the housing shortage should be treated as a national emergency.
Ten of the key reforms to tackle the housing crisis were supported by participants and included whole-system reform, changes to tax settings, planning rules and a stronger housing safety net.
AMPLIFY Chief Executive Georgina Harrison said once people were presented with the evidence they supported the reform, which was much bolder than the current political debate.
“There is a perception that housing reform is politically impossible, but our research shows the public is ready for decisive action,” he said.
“They know there is no single solution and that trimming the edges will not solve the crisis.”
