Sydney, Australia – When Mary votes in a national election in Australia on Saturday, the country’s long-term affordable housing shortage will be her priority.
For two years, the 59-year-old former postal worker has lived in a short-term stay in the New South Wales region with his daughter and dog.
Mary earns income from a biweekly AUD pension ($673) and seasonal hotel and retail jobs, but her weekly median rent for her home or apartment ($360).
Mary asked to mention her in her name, and he tried to apply for social housing but was told the waiting list was “very, very long”.
“Once we keep renting, we're landing here,” Mary told Al Jazeera.
“Now, I have to pay for storage to keep our lives stored or lose everything. I've never thought I'd find myself.”
Mary intends to vote for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left Labor Party, and although she is not enthusiastic about any major party, he is being returned to power.
She told Al Jazeera that referring to Peter Dutton’s Conservative Liberal National Party coalition, “I might vote, even though I never vote. I never vote.”
“I find them non-transparent, rooted in fluffy bank balances and elite partners’ balances, while sacrificing those who pay taxes, so many politicians dodge.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke with Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton on November 6, 2024. [Tracey Nearmy/AFP]
Australia's property and rent prices are one of the top issues in the election race, dominated by concerns over rising costs of living.
Australia is a national obsession with property and is home to some of the most expensive homes on the planet.
Sydney is the country’s largest city, ranking second among 94 city centres around the world, with a median price of 13.8, according to the recent Demographic International Housing Affordability Survey.
Research by Proptrack, a Sydney family is expected to earn about $280,000 ($180,000) a year to afford the median home price of $1.4 million ($900,000).
Both the Labor Party and the Coalition have announced many policy proposals to increase housing affordability, although activists say none of them seem ready to solve the root cause of the problem.
Labor has committed to building 100,000 homes for first-time buyers and increasing financial support, while liberals have committed to training more architecture apprentices, investing in basic infrastructure and allowing young Australians to withdraw their pensions early to cover their housing deposits.
Both sides also target foreign buyers and immigrants, Albanys announced a two-year ban on non-citizens from buying existing homes earlier this year.
Economists point out that lack of supply is the core driver of the housing crisis.
Australia has the lowest per capita housing stock during the Common World pandemic, with about 400 homes per 1,000 people, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Since then, while the supply of housing has improved, its demand has far exceeded the demand driven by the migration on record.
Australia's population grew by 2.1% in 2024, even as the country's birth rate dropped to a 17-year low.
In particular, the construction of social housing has fallen in the direction.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 169,000 households were on the waitlist for public housing in 2023.
Yumi Lee, CEO of the New South Wales Senior Women Network, said many older women, in particular, found it difficult to get housing due to their smaller pensions compared to their male peers.
A 2021 kpmg report found that women aged 60-64 had an average of less Australian dollars ($36,608) in pension pots than men.
“We are called the so-called lucky country, but many older women have to choose between food, medicine or rent, which is not a matter of luck, it is a matter of neglect,” Lee told Al Jazeera.
Kris, a 71-year-old pensioner in Blue Mountains near Sydney, said she was almost homeless last year after being forced to sell her family home after her divorce.
“I heard stories about the stories that are happening in these things,” Kris asked for a pseudonym, telling Al Jazeera.
Experts say a range of factors have exacerbated housing shortages, including agility and lack of businessmen.
More controversially, housing advocates blame the negative gear, a tax relief that allows landlords to write off losses caused by their investment property.
February 25, 2025 [Kirsty Needham/Reuters]
Labour revoked two election defeats in the 2022 general election after pledging a reduction in responsibility.
Maiy Azize, a national spokesman for everyone's pressure group, said the main parties seem unwilling to solve the problem.
“It's a crisis that took decades and takes decades to resolve, but we do need someone to step up and take the first step,” Azize told Al Jaze.
“If a party tends to launch a program that really promotes social housing and conducts tax reforms, they may have a significant impact soon, but that will take some time to resolve,” she said.
Bernie Barrett, acting CEO of Better Rental, said a positive step forward is the federal and state governments that have a nationwide consistent rental law.
“About 30% of Australians rent, and although we are a large population, our problems are largely ignored by politicians and policy makers.” Barrett rated the workforce as “slow” while liberals rated the Workers Party as “becoming worse” because progress in rental policies has become worse.”
Andrea Leong, a 38-year-old tenant and microbiologist who lives in Albanese, Gryandler voter in New South Wales, said she felt ignored by two major political parties.
“In Australia, we already have the idea that owning a house is Australia's dream. Renting is seen as an unfortunate or temporary situation,” Leong told Al Jazeera.
“I want the Prime Minister and every aspect of politics to recognize that rent is a legal way of life.”
