Housing policy should reflect the kind of society Australia wants to be: one that treats homes as a human right, builds neighbourhoods and social mixing, and stops privileging wealth accumulation over shelter.

Housing policies should reflect the sort of society we want to live in, not the quest for wealth accumulation. A home is not a commodity.

In the last budget we saw at last the importance of housing as a human right and not an investment opportunity for the wealthier. Not surprisingly the wealthy and their media supporters have mounted attacks on the budget in support of their own interests and not young Australians battling to find a home.

For the 25–34 age bracket, home ownership has collapsed from 61 per cent to about 43 per cent. Among Australians under 40, ownership rates have fallen by 10 to 15 percentage points over the last few decades.

The best response to the nonsense of Pauline Hanson is significant public investment in housing, health and education.

The property industry, with the help of the media, has been obsessed with the financial value of property as a commodity for wealth creation. We have had endless tables about how much the value of houses and units have increased in suburbs.

Housing policy should be about housing as a human right, where in homes we raise families, entertain friends and where we can close off from markets and business.

Too often property advocates and vested interests see the issue of housing as a technical problem concerning debt, prices and “bubbles”. Technical and management issues are important but there is much more at stake. What is really needed is policies should reflect the sort of society that we want to live in. “Housing” policy is not an end. It needs to serve certain values and........

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