Address Australia's Housing & Productivity Crisis?

<-- Federal Election 2025

There are two domestic issues that matter above all others in this election: housing and productivity — because there is a nation-defining shortage of each.

They are at the heart of the cost-of-living crisis that is crushing most Australians, and the nation's long-term economic and social challenges.

But both major parties are dodging them and the campaign that culminates on May 3 is another contest of band-aids, not cures.

Dealing effectively with the low productivity that has pushed inflation and interest rates so high, along with housing affordability, is difficult, and only popular in the telling, not the doing.

Labor and the Coalition both dodging two things that matter most this election

Alan Kohler's key recommendations include:

For Productivity:

• Implement Productivity Commission’s recommendations with a clear roadmap.
• Introduce strong, targeted policies beyond symbolic gestures (e.g., non-compete reform).
• Stop relying on assumptions in budget projections — introduce measurable productivity strategies.

For Housing:

• Commit to building 100,000 public housing units/year, government-funded.
• Expand trade-specific visas and accelerate qualification recognition for foreign tradies.
• Launch an international recruitment campaign for ~80,000 tradespeople.
• Lower development taxes and red tape to boost private housing supply.
• Better coordinate migration and housing approvals using real-time data.

To what extent do AGREE/DISAGREE with Alan Kohler's assessment and recommendations?

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About PByT Surveys & Open Democracy

The PByT surveys represent a rolling snapshot of global sentiment from real people whose identity has been verified. The results can be analyzed in a variety of ways to get a better understanding of key issues utilizing Bayesian statistics - a mathematical concept that updates beliefs in light of new data or evidence.

As a result, these surveys have the potential to be the most definitive resources on some of the most critically important issues of modern times and serve as the basis for the idea of "open democracy."

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