Everyday Australians who have not been able to afford to gear their lower incomes into buying investment housing - as LESS than 10% of Australia, only around 2 million Australians - have done and those without family wealth must understand that the ONLY way to guarantee a safe, secure and decent home for OUR children and grandchildren is to force our politicians to pass Legislation to make safe, affordable housing a HUMAN RIGHT in Australia.
Our governments MUST PRIORITISE shelter as a HUMAN RIGHT. The ONLY way they will do this is if Australians CAMPAIGN from the ground-up for housing to be LEGISLATED (I'd like it in our Constitution) as a Human Right - as we did with the (yet to be seen how effective it really is!) National Anti-Corruption Commission.
THAT took us DECADES!
It doesn't matter which political party gains power when it comes to Human Rights, as they can bring in as many programs as they can to help reduce homelessness in the Australian community with other things like climate action - but this can be undone by a stroke of a pen by the next Government who gains control of both houses of Parliament.
They can lie to us with impunity because money, influence and power is what moves most politicians' hearts and they will not upset the power brokers in the media and corporate 'unions' (known by benign sounding names such as 'Councils' or 'Associations') who use their billions in profits to fund media campaigns convincing Australians that the sky will fall in if they are subjected to extra taxes, policies or regulations.
Two in recent times were the Minerals Council of 'Australia's' TV blitz ad campaign against Rudd's Rent resources Tax (if you have a look at their membership it includes a lot of multinational companies with NO allegiance to our country!) and the Master Builders Association in ALL states which campaigned strongly against the grandfathering of the Negative Gearing for established housing in favour of future Negative Gearing being only on new housing that Bill Shorten campaigned on in 2019.
How did THAT work out for building companies in Australia?!
The ONLY way Governments will STOP caring about the few for the many is if housing becomes a HUMAN RIGHT in Australia THAT is the only way future Governments will be FORCED to make legislation that COMPLIES with a Human Rights framework.
Currently, they don't have to.
I won't even start on the RIGHT to universal affordable Health Care, access to water (remember the drought when country towns were left without water so agribusiness could continue irrigating?) and food security - which will become even more necessary as the changing climate impacts our world.
As Australians we have been too placid - our children have been robbed of hope under our noses while we ran after the titbits and the scapegoat dramas thrown to us by Governments of all persuasions, while they covertly undermined together with the lobbyists from corporations and corporate 'unions' who walk the floors of OUR parliament - what we THOUGHT were our children's Human RIGHTS.
Oh, and please STOP rewarding politicians because they belong to a particular PARTY - WE are expected to perform to keep OUR much lower-paying jobs - politicians should only be re-elected on THEIR performance!
Please read Australia’s Housing Crisis and the Case for a Federal Human Rights Act - Amnesty International Australia