Sunday, February 07, 2010

The Phoney War between Mortgagees and Housos

Despite media beatups that pit worried small-time mortgagees against hordes of housos set to disrupt their property values, the fault, (and sorry to knock you down with a feather), lies elsewhere... Yep, "the System" strikes again!

The Federal Housing Minister, Tanya Plibersek who is a universally respected friend of public housing tenants, has pushed the art of the possible to its limits. Her government has acted speedily to reverse the irresponsibility, neglect and welfare-bashing of the Howard years.

Given the fine mess of homelessness Howard and his grinning acolytes (Abbott, Costello, and Hockey) left us, there's only one thing to be done. Deliver as much housing as possible in as short a time as possible. And it has to be built to the highest possible standard that "Howard's carefully nurtured "what-about-me" generation of downwardly envious capital-T Taxpayers will tolerate without going ballistic.

Under the circumstances, Housing NSW (formerly known as the Department of Housing) is doing a brilliant job.

Unfortunately, no matter what you do to rectify the mess left by Howard and Co, some will benefit and some will lose out. Now you'd think that most reasonable people would settle for "the greater good for the greater number", but after a decade of cultivated resentment, reasonableness is just not on the menu.

The wider fault lies elsewhere. For starters, in in the feather-bedding of housing speculators via negative gearing, and the failure of of state tenancy laws to create a stable environment for renters. While private tenants live in permanent insecurity with no security of tenure, fearful of constant rent hikes, it's no wonder they continue to risk the private ownership markets.

So there you have it: tenants are pitted against mum-and-dad landlords, turned into bitter enemies when they could be working together for a fairer system for all.

5 comments:

OUT IN THE OPEN, Sydney, NSW Australia said...

The behaviour of the Howard government is reprehensible, squirreling away money meant for public housing and calling it a 'surplus'! It's enough to turn anyone off Abbott, except he is said to be not very good at sums. Lack of money does not explain the way Housing NSW is run, the level of incompetence that pervades its corridors of power.

DH said...

Can't agree that HNSW is incompetent. My whole point is that the problems are systemic and have complex roots. In my experience, most public servants at the senior level are doing a great job, but are often muzzled in a variety of ways.

Andrew Elder said...

Tanya Plibersek is looking for an adviser. I hope you use this blog as your CV, reference and platform. Good luck!

DH said...

Thanks for the tip! For some time now, I have been seized by an overwhelming urge to write "An Open Letter to Tanya", but something always held me back... Intimations of my apotheosis in Canberra perhaps?

OUT IN THE OPEN, Sydney, NSW Australia said...

I agree that senior housing officials are muzzled, but this is because they are public housing tenant aggressive and bite! It's time to remove the blinkers, Desperate Houso, and be objective instead of following the party line.