Queensland premier proposes drastic action to contain rental crisis

Her statement yesterday came after a report was released detailing Queensland’s dire situation when it came to housing costs.

“Nothing is off the table,” she said.

“I understand that this is a big issue for families. They are constantly being faced with huge increases in rent.”

The report was commissioned by the Town of Nowhere campaign and bankrolled by Tenants Queensland and The Services Union.

The report showed how rental prices have skyrocketed in regional markets in the past five years – up 33 per cent on the Gold Coast, 51 per cent in Noosa and 80 per cent in Gladstone.

And prices have gone up higher at the bottom of the market, intensifying pressure on Queenslanders with lower incomes.

Homelessness has also risen three times as much in Queensland as the rest of the country.

“There is a lot of housing stress at the moment,” Palaszczuk said.

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“A lot of people are continuing to move to Queensland and that is adding to the situation.”

Report author Professor Hal Pawson of UNSW said tying rental increases to the consumer price index would be “logical”.

But Greens MP Amy MacMahon has called for residential rents to be frozen for two years, followed by a two per cent increase every 24 months.

But Shadow Treasurer David Janetzki was deeply critical of a rental price cap.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk will do and say anything when cornered by a crisis she created,” he tweeted.

“Time and again Premier Palaszczuk unleashes uncertainty in the economy and today’s thought-bubble is her gold medal for bad ideas.”