Smith: System ‘broken’
An affordable housing advocate says Bella Ranieri’s plight – unable to find a home despite having twins, a baby due, and losing her partner – shows the housing system is “broken”.
But Tamika Smith, who helped the family of slain Kelly Wilkinson find a new home, said it could be turned around with the right policies from state and federal governments.
“For two years, I worked as a philanthropist to see the home for the Kelly Wilkinson family be established as I did not think it was acceptable to tell them to wait the average 10 year time frame. Bella has waited over a year now,” she said.
“About to give birth and with two-year-old twins, Bella has just said goodbye to her partner in a sudden accident. It is a tragedy to think, this is the day we live in when she also has to face the prospect of nowhere to live. The system is broken. Social housing, once equated to four per cent of the total supply. We are already down to three per cent and well on track to reduce to near one per cent based on political announcements portrayed as an accomplishment.”
Ms Smith said data showed Australia was on track to miss Anthony Albanese’s target of 1.2 million new homes in five years by 400,000, adding the solution was private sector incentives.
“This could take shape in the form of expedited approvals and incentives on the cost of delivery.
“What is being done to make a home more affordable, how are you incentivising those who can supply and is your priority on building bigger governments or more houses?
“Either (governments) engage a sector that can assist or take twice as long to try and do it (themselves), which we know is not working,” she said.