A young father on the brink of homelessness has asked politicians about their plans to cut immigration and make housing more affordable for struggling Australians.
Morgan Cox fronted ABC’s Q+A panel in Wyong on the NSW Central Coast, on Monday night to ask why the Albanese Government approved mass migration into the country when limited housing supply was driving unreasonable rent rises.
‘I recently got a rent increase notice for an additional $180 a week, which works out to be about $10,000 a year,’ Mr Cox began.
‘I tried to find a cheaper place and there just aren’t any. What little is available, there’s dozens of people lined up.
‘Lots of them are immigrants and they have plenty more money than I can possibly get.’
The hard working dad revealed that his young family had already been forced out of Sydney by rent costs – partially driven by an influx of people moving to the city and increasing the demand for property.
‘I’m already working two jobs,’ Mr Cox said.
‘One more rent increase and my family – my one-year-old baby – we’re facing homelessness and we’ve got nowhere to go.
Young father Morgan Cox (pictured) told Monday’s Q+A panel his family had been priced out of Sydney and now faces homelessness amid rising rent costs
Mr Cox questioned why the Albanese Government was approved mass migration into the country when the limited housing supply is already stretched thin (pictured, people queuing to view an apartment in Sydney)
‘I want to know, is the government going to cut immigration to match housing availability or are we just gonna keep going until every regular working Australian is homeless?’
Mr Cox’s vulnerability was met with applause from the audience, but the panel’s response to the desperate father seemed detached in light of the record-high immigration levels, of more than 500,000 a year, under Labor.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler was the first to answer Mr Cox’s question.
‘I’m so sorry you’re going through that and it’s a story we hear right across the country, particularly in the bigger states around the big cities,’ he said.
‘But we have been working very hard to get migration levels, immigration levels down to something we think the country can manage.’
The minister’s comments sparked sarcastic laughs from the studio audience.
‘We do want to see those migration numbers get back to something like normal for Australia,’ Mr Butler continued.
‘We also know that migration has been an important part of keeping our economy going.
Minister for Health Mark Butler (pictured) claimed the government was already ‘working hard’ to reduce migration, eliciting laughter from the audience
‘We also have a very tight labour market with lots of skills shortages. I know in health, in hospitals, in aged care facilities, we struggle to keep those operations going.
‘So it is a fine balance.
‘We know we need more house. We’ve just got to build more houses.’
An emotional Mr Cox was seen shaking his head at Mr Butler’s comments.
He added that every day was a struggle for him and his young family.
‘The government makes the laws and decides who comes in,’ Mr Cox told Mr Butler.
‘So if you’ve got 2.5million people coming in a few years, surely you can say to them, “no, we don’t have enough houses for you”.’
Former NSW treasurer Matt Kean was more blunt in offering a solution to the housing crisis.
He claimed the issue was ‘more complex’ than lowering migration and instead called for governments to reduce the ‘red tape’ developers face.
Host Patricia Karvelas pointed Mr Cox’s question to Mr Kean, stating: ‘Some of the problems that were building up in NSW did probably happen under your previous government’s watch.’
Mr Kean replied: ‘The reality is that we need more housing supply. More supply into the system needs more availability for renters, for homeowners – more choice.’
Host Patricia Karvelas (pictured) called on former NSW treasurer Matt Kean to respond to Mr Cox’s question, which saw him point the blame at the ‘red tape’ housing developers face
‘People are finding it hard to live in Sydney. They’re having to move away from their care networks, their families and friends – and we need to address this.
‘The number one priority for governments, a lever that they could pull is making it easier in our planning system to get stuff built.
‘There’s way too much red tape and green tape that is stopping housing developments, that be in Sydney, Melbourne or right across Australia.’
Overall immigration levels last year eased to 444,480, down from the record-high levels approaching 550,000 in late 2023, based on the combined permanent and long-term intake.
But the net overseas migration level was still more than double the 194,400 of 2019-20 financial year covering the start of the Covid pandemic.
Australia’s rental crisis has showed no signs of easing, with the vacancy rate declining to one per cent in January, SQM Research figures showed.
The total number of rental vacancies fell sharply to 31,822 – a significant drop from December’s 47,336 figures.
Sydney’s rental vacancy rate dropped back to 1.4 per cent, while Melbourne also recorded a sharp decline, with its vacancy rate dropping to 1.5 per cent
Brisbane recorded a rental vacancy rate of just 0.8 per cent – the second lowest rental vacancy rate ever recorded for the city since SQM records began in 2005.
Meanwhile, Canberra’s vacancy rate dropped to 1.3 per cent, while Perth and Adelaide remained stable at an alarmingly low 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
Sydney’s rental vacancy rate dropped back to 1.4 per cent, leading many to worry the rental crisis will continue
Darwin also saw a decrease in its vacancy rate to 1.1 per cent, while Hobart recorded its equal lowest rental vacancy rate ever recorded with just 0.3 per cent.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher explained the sharp decrease in rental vacancies was a strong indication the rental market crisis was not over.
He believes Australia’s rental market has the potential to deteriorate even further in the coming months.
‘From a tenant’s perspective, the sharp drop in rental vacancies at the start of 2025 is highly disappointing, especially since there were some glimpses of a moderating rental market in the latter half of 2024,’ Mr Christopher said.
‘Is this a one-off abnormality? Unfortunately, I don’t think it is as our records of February listings to date are lower than what was recorded in January.’
In the year to September, just 177,702 new residential dwelling were completed, a level well below the 240,000 annual figure needed for Labor’s target of building 1.2million homes over five years.
