In the 2024 Western Sydney Youth survey, 84 per cent of respondents said they have little confidence they will ever own their own home.
Labor promises more houses, including through the built-to-rent scam – a non-solution that shifts the focus away from home ownership and locks people to tenancy treadmills for life.
“Rental security” sounds appealing, but it allows institutional developers to benefit from tax breaks while making it harder for the next generation to buy in.
Policy discussions on housing need to shift back to considering all options that will provide a viable pathway for anyone who wants to own their home to be able to do so. Why? Because owning a home is the best path to long-term financial and housing security, without relying on a scenario where the government (aka the taxpayer) owns 40 per cent of someone’s future via Labor’s proposed Help to Buy Scheme. A practical solution begins with ensuring we can actually build the required housing supply and that tradies and smaller construction companies are given a fair go.
Currently, Australian small businesses are being crushed by this government. They are closing their doors at as a result.
The construction sector is leading in national insolvency statistics. But these are more than just statistics; they are real people, real families, real job losses and real lost housing starts. And there is a very real “cost of doing business” crisis; parallel to the cost of living crisis that is currently the main concern of 63 per cent of young people along with job security.
These are the same young Australians who have close to no hope of owning a home under the ongoing failures of this government.
It is not surprising that, left with a future of perpetual renting, young people aged between 18 and 25 have lost confidence in the federal government, and when asked whether they feel the government acts with their interests in mind, 51 per cent said “no”.
A final sobering statistic from young people in Western Sydney is that 80 per cent of respondents simply didn’t feel hopeful. That future can only be restored by a Coalition government that will fight for an Australia where young people will have the choice to one day own their own home.
Maria Kovacic is a Liberal senator representing NSW.
