Housing is a basic human right and public housing is not welfare or charity; it is a basic requirement for people to participate in the community.
Privatisation and free market experiments have failed to meet the needs of many Australians - particularly those on low incomes, leaving many of these citizens unable to house themselves or caught in a rent trap. Some of the biggest welfare recipients have been land and building speculators profiteering from the public sector at a time when all social welfare services have been cut to the bone. It is the view of the PLP that this is a dereliction of the government's responsibility to create a fair society.
At present waiting lists for public housing stand at around 200,000 Australia wide. These statistics do not include people who have given up, or have been forced to move to other places in search of work. The new government minimalist criteria is aimed at housing only the people whom they deem most in need.
It will be a PLP policy priority to eliminate homelessness; overcrowding and substandard accommodation. The public and cooperative sectors shall be the leading elements in this priority.
Increasing numbers of homeless people, particularly the young, are living on the streets, in parks, even clothing bins. The attendant problems such as poverty, increased ill health (both mental and physical), community dislocation, drugs, crime and alienation, cost them and society dearly. If you don't have an address, it's difficult to access Social Security and you cannot vote.
In the past few years, the sale of public housing, destruction of tenant associations and district housing councils, has seen a further move away from any sort of commitment to provide adequate housing for all people. The private rental market has shrunk and people are forced to pay 50% or more of their income simply to maintain a roof over their heads. In some instances, a type of auction has taken place where tenants have to bid to pay a higher rent simply to obtain a place to live.
The government has an obligation to see that housing needs are met by creating and maintaining regional public housing schemes and by encouraging housing co-operatives and collectives. The government must become a leader in the whole field of housing construction, technology, planning, and finance.
The government must also maintain an adequate level of home-lending at low interest rates, and investigate alternative schemes to Torrens title, such as leasehold, to cheapen housing.
All these housing policies are to be implemented in the context of a sustainable environment and the decentralisation of work opportunities and government services to rural and regional Australia.
Publicly provided housing will be environmentally sound, and designed with community consultation to be of the highest quality that modern design and technology can provide.
Public housing will be integrated with other housing in the community. Public housing must remain as low cost, available and accessible housing. The program will support urban renewal, refurbishment and infill housing, and stop urban sprawl.
Research into large scale quality building programs that have proved successful in other parts of the world will be investigated and applied to Australian conditions. The National Housing Authority and regional housing bodies will focus on good quality, well designed, energy efficient, environmentally sensitive urban design and planning that caters for the diversity of people's circumstances as a top priority.
Large blocs of multi-unit flats should be re-developed; if that proves entirely unsuitable they should be demolished.
The PLP will encourage development within community planning concepts stressing consultancy with these communities; inner city development where housing is at the end of its economic life; and cluster house concepts.
All of these developments should allow for a variety of living styles ;use of materials ; and class intermixture. The PLP will work towards a greater diversity of housing types and building materials to provide greater flexibility for the elderly; extended families and people with disabilities and special health needs. Subsidies to be provided for the cost of special environmental requisites, eg air conditioning in desert areas.
Design should be culturally sensitive, and the rights and needs of indigenous people to build homes on their traditional lands shall be recognised. Multiple ownership land titles shall be recognised in community planning.
The PLP will discourage the urban sprawl onto high production farmland. Low production farmland may be included into housing zoning. Attention will be given to erosion control, soil retention and water drainage in housing and land-fill development.
It will be prohibited to build housing on or near toxic dump sites and contaminated land. Relocation and compensation costs will be borne by the polluters and/or the housing developers, where houses have been built on toxic land. Where there is any doubt about whether land is safe or not, a survey of the land will be carried out to determine if it is safe to build housing on it, before any new housing development is approved.
There will be a Government Commitment to Providing Safe, Secure and Affordable Housing Options for Everyone A building program will be initiated immediately .
This program will also have the positive effect of creating thousands of jobs for building workers, tradespeople, and those involved in the supply of environmentally friendly building materials.
A National Housing Authority, run by a democratically elected board, comprised of tenants, housing workers, community unions, and government representatives, will embark on a program to eliminate housing insecurity and homelessness.
It will carry out long term national planning and funding based on population levels; environment; infrastructure.
A PLP government shall immediately convene new regional housing bodies under the auspicious of the National housing Authority, comprising elected boards of tenants, unions where relevant, RHB staff and housing advisers, indigenous groups and community service groups. Regional housing bodies shall be encouraged to establish and maintain a high standard of housing geared towards the tenants and community interests. They shall monitor the needs of the local communities on an ongoing basis.
In all communities there shall be secure emergency housing maintained and set aside for domestic violence survivors, with a commitment to providing resources to meet the ongoing needs, and for providing supported accommodation for people who have nowhere to stay such as those de-institutionalised due to de-funding of health care facilities, or people just released from prison who have difficulty finding a home/employment.
All new housing developments shall have access to locally based social services and public transport, subject to an environmental audit.