We asked the candidates for the seat of Lismore about housing.
Our question was: What approaches would you take to ease the housing crisis?
Their answers include rental reform. a vacancy tax, foreign ownership restrictions and urban planning,
Here are the answers from five candidates.
Vanessa Rosayro, Animal Justice
The ‘Housing Crisis’ is an issue of homelessness which affects the most disadvantaged in our community and is now something employed professionals face. I believe everyone has the right to safe, secure and affordable housing. It is the responsibility of our State Government to ensure equitable access to adequate housing. I support the National Council of Social Service policy platform for a fairer NSW. I will pursue a NSW strategy for prevention and sustained investment into social and affordable housing. With bio-sensitive urban design to ensure urban sprawl is in harmony with wildlife and nature. Housing reform does not need to come at a cost to our environment.
Another aspect of our housing crisis is rental reform. I support changes to the NSW tenancy laws to remove the “no grounds eviction laws” that see tenants evicted for reasons other than breaches.
Alex Rubin, Nationals
The solution to our housing crisis is increasing the housing stock. We need to build the right types of housing for families. Cheap housing that isn’t energy efficient or an investment in the future, is just kicking the can down the road.
We need to increase housing density in Lismore, council has a role to play in streamlining development application processes. We need to provide people with the surety that Lismore is open for business. New housing needs considered urban planning, supported with the right infrastructure (sewage, power grid and transport links), we have seen to many orphan developments, built in the wrong place lacking sound infrastructure and overpriced. It should not be about a quick profits.
Australian dream can become an Australian reality.
Adam Guise, Greens
For decades, political parties have failed to invest in the housing we need to address the current housing crisis.
Rather than leaving it to the free market, we need a mass government investment in social, public and affordable housing. We can’t leave it to the free market to deliver the affordable housing we need for an aging and increasingly single/double household population. We need to tax the billionaires, corporations and dirty polluters so that we can build safe and well designed housing that we so desperately need.
The Reconstruction Corporation needs to urgently acquire land to enable land swaps, affordable house relocations and new housing for flood impacted residents. It is far cheaper to acquire land before it is rezoned, so that the public gets the benefit of upzoning rather than profit-driven investors.
Janelle Saffin, Labor
The Northern Rivers has a long waiting list for public and private housing, worsened by the 2022 floods. The NSW Government’s policy failure to address this need over years has now resulted in our region needing 18,600 homes. At this election we need to secure commitments from the major parties. The Labor party is committed to regional housing plans with targets and a raft of other measures to make housing safer and more secure.
Where I grew up we could all get housing courtesy of our State Government. Families had security. Our people must have the security of a roof over their head for themselves and their children.
The market alone cannot provide that security, but all are winners if the State Government steps up to its responsibilities.
That is my goal.
Matthew Bertalli,
Shooters and Fishers
The myth that the housing crisis is caused by under supply of housing is exactly that – a myth. Think of houses like diamonds. I order to keep the price of diamonds high, diamond companies keep a certain amount off the market, even though the supply is there. It is the same for housing in the city, large developers, such as Lendlease and Meriton hold a certain amount of housing off the market to drive up the price of housing. To fix this we should introduce a vacancy tax and stop foreign ownership of Australian properties. A vacancy tax would mean that properties that are not on the market and have been vacant for a certain amount of time will have a tax levied upon them. This will hopefully disincentives the holding of properties to increase prices.
Cindy Roberts, Independent
IndyNR.com was not able to contact Cindy Roberts to ask these questions.
Get to know more about the candidates at the link below.
Who will you vote for? Here are the six candidates for Lismore
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