Clare O’Neil retains housing portfolio with added brief to tackle cities
Minister O’Neil’s reappointment has been welcomed by industry bodies, who say Labor has a mandate to push on with its housing agenda.
CLARE O’Neil has cemented a place in Anthony Albanese’s government, retaining her position as Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness.
The role has expanded to tackle the issues in the capitals – with the addition of Minister for Cities.
Minister O’Neil’s role has been roundly welcomed by industry bodies, who have highlighted that the Albanese landslide gives Labor a mandate to push on with its housing agenda.
“We congratulate Clare O’Neil on her reappointment as Minister for Housing,” Property Council CEO Mike Zorbas said.
“Congratulations, too, to Josh Burns on his appointment as a Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness, and we look forward to engaging with him on this important issue.
“The government’s refreshed productivity agenda on planning our cities better is vital. We now build homes at half the pace we managed 30 years ago.
“Cities and housing are inextricably linked.
“Population density in our cities boosts our economic productivity and creates vibrant places supporting jobs and opportunities for all Australians.
“Minister O’Neil championed the build-to-rent legislation that will help unlock 80,000 rental homes over the next decade in a bitterly divided Parliament, and we look forward to continuing to work with her on the nation’s housing policies.”
Looking forward
“During the life of this parliament, we need to end the blame-shifting on housing and, where proper industry consultation has occurred, pass good government legislation quickly,” he added.
“We should now fine-tune incentives to help those states that are failing their housing targets.
“At the same time, the outstanding benefits of purpose-built student and retirement living communities, in making government service delivery easier and in taking pressure off broader rental markets, must be top of mind for states and territories.
“Early industry consultation on the government’s key election commitments will ensure smooth delivery of policies that boost housing supply across the country.”
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) highlighted the expansion of the housing portfolio to take in the future cities planning and a separate special envoy focused on social housing and homelessness.
HIA Managing Director, Jocelyn Martin said: “The HIA has called on the next term of government to specifically focus on increasing housing supply with dedicated programs targeted towards boosting private housing and rentals.
“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.”
