The great Aussie dream

I’ve been told that the dream for most Australian families is to own their own quarter acre block. With that dream out of reach for many, do we need to set new goals?

Homes for Heroes

In 1943, my grandparents’ council house in Bexhill-on-Sea was more than just a home; it was a lifeline after their previous home was destroyed by a German bomb. My grandfather, a young soldier conscripted into the British Army, had fought in Europe and was shot for his troubles. When he returned from war, he fought for a society that wouldn’t abandon its people in times of need.

Public housing then wasn’t a welfare handout; it was part of a fair deal for working people. My grandfather took pride in his state owned home, knowing that governments had a duty to provide secure, affordable housing. While Churchill won the war, the British people voted for Clement Attlee’s vision for rebuilding.

Australia once understood this too. But somewhere along the way, we abandoned the idea that housing is a right, not just an asset.

The Welfare State vs The Sell-Off

Attlee has a full statue outside the House of Commons lower chamber. He reshaped postwar Britain, building homes, hospitals, and services for the people. Directly opposite him stands Margaret Thatcher.

Thatcher’s government introduced Right to Buy, allowing people to purchase their public housing at a discount. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and for many families, it was.

However, millions of homes were sold off without being replaced by governments. Public housing became a last resort instead of an option for working people. Private landlords snapped up former public homes, turning once-affordable housing into expensive rentals. The result is a housing shortage that still haunts the UK today.

And in Australia? We copied the same flawed model.

Public Housing Was Once a Source of Pride—Now It’s a Slur

In postwar Australia, governments built thousands of homes for working people. Just like in Britain, public housing was a foundation for stability, not a sign of poverty.

Over time, that changed:

• Governments sold off public housing instead of expanding it.
• Eligibility tightened, so only the most vulnerable could access it.
• The private rental market took over, with families pushed into insecure, unaffordable leases.

Now, “houso” is a slur, not a badge of security. This isn’t just a cultural shift; it was a deliberate policy choice.

And it’s failing.

Tasmania‘s Housing Crisis: A Government Too Slow to Act

We are now in one of the worst housing crises in modern Tasmanian history. Over 4,700 households are on the social housing waitlist, and homelessness has increased by 45% in five years. The median house price in Hobart is $699,000, out of reach for most working families.

The government’s response is too slow, too small, and too reliant on private developers. Homes Tasmania’s promise of 10,000 homes by 2032 looks good on paper, but at the current pace, it won’t happen. The state is supposed to build 1,000 homes per year; last year, only 341 were delivered. That’s not a plan; it’s a failure in slow motion.

Thanks to Tammy Tyrrell, the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) has committed 1,200 homes for Tasmania, a direct result of her hard work in the Senate to ensure our state wasn’t overlooked. Tammy fought hard to make sure Tasmania wasn’t left behind, and without her efforts, we might not have seen a single extra home.

But the fact remains: this is nowhere near enough to fix the problem. If the government is serious about solving the housing crisis, it needs to stop making excuses and start building homes at scale, now.

Where are the homes?

Where is the urgency?

Housing Should Be Infrastructure, Not an Investment Scheme

Governments don’t rely on the private sector to build hospitals or schools, so why should we leave housing up to developers whose only goal is profit?

We need public housing at scale, now. That means:

• Direct investment in public housing, not just incentives for private developers.
• A return to mixed-income public housing models, because housing security isn’t just for the poorest; it’s for everyone.
• State governments leading housing construction, rather than waiting on slow moving federal programs.

The Time for Excuses Is Over

My grandfather’s council house wasn’t a handout; it was a commitment from the government that working people deserved housing security.

Public housing isn’t a last resort. It should be a first choice for affordable, secure housing. This is about fairness, economic stability, and giving people control over their futures.

That’s a dream I can align with.