Government’s Affordable Housing Policy in Tatters: Liberal Senator Jane Hume Slams Failure to Meet Targets
- Liberal Senator Jane Hume labels Labor’s $10 billion affordable housing policy a “failure” after only 370 homes are bought in two years
- The government had promised to deliver 40,000 affordable and social housing properties by June 30, 2029, but not a single home has been built
- ‘The Housing Australia Future Fund is the signature policy of the Labor Government. It’s been up and running for two years. It hasn’t built so much as a granny flat,’ Senator Hume said
Jane Hume, Liberal Senator, has launched a scathing attack on the Labor government’s affordable housing policy, calling it a “failure” after it emerged that only 370 homes have been bought in two years. The government’s $10 billion policy was supposed to deliver 40,000 affordable and social housing properties by June 30, 2029, but not a single home has been constructed.
In a blistering critique, Senator Hume told Health Minister Mark Butler on Sunrise that the policy had fallen woefully short of its targets. “The Housing Australia Future Fund is the signature policy of the Labor Government. It’s been up and running for two years. It hasn’t built so much as a granny flat,” she said.
Senator Hume pointed out that the 370 homes claimed by the government were actually existing properties that had been purchased, rather than new builds. “They haven’t even actually met their own self-imposed targets. There is no way that they are going to manage to build 40,000 homes, which is their target, in four years’ time,” she added.
Butler responded by blaming the Coalition for blocking essential legislation, claiming that the government could still meet its target. “We’ve got 25,000 homes at different stages of planning construction because of the investments that we made,” he said. However, Senator Hume remained unconvinced, saying that the government’s failure to deliver on its promises would only exacerbate Australia’s housing crisis.
