E&EO TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
TUESDAY, 27 AUGUST 2024
TOPICS: CMFEU; housing crisis; Government’s ambitious housing plan
CHARLES CROUCHER, HOST: Well, thousands of tradies will walk off construction sites across the country today protesting the CFMEU takeover. Minister for Housing Clare O'Neil joins us now from Sydney, where crisis talks will be held on housing. Minister, good morning to you. Construction sites will be shut down all day. Is this justification for the decision to put the CFMEU into administration?
CLARE O’NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS: Look, Charles, we've got a construction union in our country which has become riddled with corruption and wrongdoing. And our government has taken the tough action to put the union into administration. It's obvious that this has put a few noses out of joint, but our government's not turning on this.
A construction union that's not functional in our country is not good for the sector and it's not good for workers indeed in that industry. So, we're going to keep going with that tough action no matter what happens here.
CROUCHER: The overriding message from the government has been that this decision will eventually make building easier, building quicker and hopefully building cheaper. Is that still the case?
O’NEIL: Look, that's absolutely our hope. And, you know, we're in the middle of a housing crisis here and the big answer to that crisis is that we need to build more homes. To do that, we absolutely need a construction sector which is working as efficiently and fairly as possible. And that's a part of the picture here. But I would just say that, we've got really serious allegations against this union. And despite all the tough talk on the other side of politics, it's taken a Labor government to take the tough action necessary to clean this union up. And we're not going to back off from that.
CROUCHER: Let's get to that meeting today, meeting with State and Territory housing ministers as well. We know that cost of living is the number one issue for voters across the country. The cost of housing is often the number one contributor to the cost of living. So, what comes out of today's meeting that you hope will start to solve that problem?
O’NEIL: Really, really important intro there. We've got a housing crisis in our country that's affecting the lives of millions of our citizens. And people watching at home would be in rentals where the rent is going up too fast. A lot of people feel that housing affordability is beyond reach. And Charles, we're even seeing rising homelessness around our country, which should not be happening in a country like Australia. Now when we step back and look at what's happened here, effectively a series of governments over a long period of time have not been building enough homes for Australians. And our government has stepped into that space and said with the States and Territories that we want to build 1.2 million homes over five years. More homes means more affordable housing for Australians. Today I'm talking to States and Territories about how we can meet that target, what they need from the Commonwealth and what the Commonwealth needs from the States in order to make it happen.
CROUCHER: Some of those states have already said they won't meet their allocation of the 1.2 million. Do you have short term goals that Australians can look at by the end of next year, the end of the year after that says, ok, we're on track. We've got 300,000 or 500,000 or some kind of indication. So, we're not coming to 2029 and being shocked that we haven't made the 1.2 or perhaps we have.
O’NEIL: Well, we'll work through some of those questions today, Charles. The critical thing is that I want to get those States and Territories together and double down on that ambition to build 1.2 million homes over five years.
You know, this is a really gutsy and ambitious goal that has been set by the State Premiers and by the Prime Minister. And the reason that we've done that is because we've got to be gutsy and ambitious.
Part of the problem here is that all governments across the country over a long period of time have set their targets too low. They've lowered their ambitions. They've stepped out of the housing issue, and that's why we are where we are. For millions of people and many people watching at home housing is the biggest issue in their lives. Now, our government has said we're not going to step back as others have. The Commonwealth has walked right into this space and we're going to work with the States and Territories to make a difference to this problem.
CROUCHER: The other issue is the infrastructure bills that are happening right across the country. And there are tradespeople and skilled workers that are working on the infrastructure projects because largely they're getting paid more and it's more secure work rather than working on homes. How do you solve that problem without importing more skilled workers and tradespeople, which, of course, require homes?
O’NEIL: Yeah, it's a really good question, Charles, and something that I'll be talking to the States and Territories about. We've got some States that are doing big infrastructure builds at the moment and we're really supportive of that. We also need to build more housing for Australians, and that's a really urgent need for the country. So, this is going to be on the agenda for discussion today with the States and Territories.
CROUCHER: It is an important meeting on an important issue, and we wish you all the best for it. Minister, thanks for joining us this morning.
O’NEIL: Thanks, Charles.
ENDS