Sunrise host David Koch has been left shocked by the story of a teenage boy forced to sleep in a tent amid Queensland’s escalating housing crisis.
Kailaeb Vescio-Stanley, who has been sleeping in a Brisbane park with his dad for more than two weeks, told Kochie he had been struggling to sleep.
‘Some nights I don’t get enough sleep, and some nights I can,’ he told Sunrise.
‘I see a lot of people doing it rough, and the majority of the people of the people I see doing it rough in parks are actually teenagers.’
The teenager said it was now ‘too expensive to rent’ in Brisbane and while his dad had been applying for permanent social housing, but hadn’t had much luck.
‘We’d just like a house. A roof over our heads,’ Mr Vescio-Stanley told Kochie.
Kailaeb Vescio-Stanley (pictured) has been sleeping in a tent in a Brisbane park with his dad for two weeks and told Kochie he had been struggling to sleep.
Mr Vescio-Stanley said the majority of the people he saw sleeping rough were teenagers
Ciara O’Loughlin filmed an insane line of prospective renters waiting outside an apartment inspection in Randwick, in Sydney’s east, earlier this year amid Australia’s rental crisis
The pair receive support from Emmanuel City Mission, an organisation that provides services to people experiencing homelessness.
‘I also have to give a shout out to Emmanuel City Mission because without them, I would have food, clothes on my back or a shower every day,’ he said.
The service provides a ‘daytime sanctuary’ for those sleeping rough as well as hot meals, clothes, loads of washing and sanitary packs.
Kochie asked Jen Williams, Queensland’s Executive Director of the Property Council, if there was a short-time solution for Queensland’s deepening house crisis.
She said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had pledged on Tuesday to double her investment into ‘quick fixes’ like more hotel and motel space for rough sleepers.
‘It was also about rental assistance,’ Ms Williams told Kochie.
‘Affordability is a real problem with people being squeezed out of the market so we are hoping to bridge that gap for some people. And also for things like food as well, the basics, so people can afford to pay their rent as well too.’
Kochie asked Jen Williams, Queensland’s Executive Director of the Property Council, if there was a short-time solution for Queensland’s deepening house crisis
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Under new reforms, announced by Queensland’s premier at Parliament House on Tuesday, land tax will be reduced by up to 50 per cent for build-to-rent developments that include at least 10 per cent of rentals as affordable housing
Landlords will only be able to increase the rent once a year under the new reforms
Ms Williams said changes to tax settings would allow developers to deliver permanent rental accommodation to those in need.
Under the new reforms, announced by the premier at Parliament House on Tuesday, land tax will be reduced by up to 50 per cent for build-to-rent developments that include at least 10 per cent of rentals as affordable housing.
Landlords can only increase the rent once a year under the new reforms.
On Monday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk opened the QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeship Centre – a new Brisbane factory producing prefabricated house frames and flat-packed rooms.
It is hoped the Eagle Farm factory will help pump more housing supply quickly into the market, with many of the exported houses destined to be homes for regional government employees.
QBuild is part of the government’s $519.2m Government Employee Housing construction package promising to build 439 homes over the next five years.
It comes as disheartening data revealed up to a third of Australians predict the cost of living will cause them serious financial stress in the next year.
An Australian Council Of Trade Unions survey of 3000 workers found more than half of Australians were using their savings to pay for daily expenses.
Devastating pictures have revealed the extent of the housing crisis in the sunshine state
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk opened the QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeship Centre – a factory producing prefabricated house frames and flat-packed rooms on Monday
Up to 46 per cent postponed or abandoned plans for a holiday, and one in four had started to skip meals to make their weekly groceries last longer.
Of the people surveyed, 32 per cent said the cost of groceries would continue to cause them stress in the next 12 months, while the majority, 91 per cent, said the cost of living had worsened over the last 12 months.
Up to 80 per cent of workers surveyed said it was getting harder to save for their retirement, with 68 per cent reducing or stopping buying non-essential items.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the worrying data indicated that workers are barely keeping their heads above water.
‘A decade without wages growth and current inflation has left millions of Australians cutting back, doing without essentials, and some are even going without meals and avoiding visits to the doctor,’ she said.
