When a minority could maximise social housing.

Those disappointed by the unedifying sight of Federal Labor bringing forward a pitiful housing policy can take some heart from the result in the NSW elections. As predicted in this column last week, Labor will form a minority government, with the Greens (who have a decent housing policy) holding the balance of power.

Traditionally the states provide public or social housing, funded by the feds. But right now, the federal government is fiddling while renters (a third of our households) get burnt. So, we look to the states.

Judging by the presentations made at the NSW AIA Chapter seminar on housing, as discussed in Another Thing, the negotiations will be interesting. How will Rose Jackson, likely Labor minister for housing, who has analysis but no solutions, negotiate with the Greens’ Cate Faehrmann, who has a plan that might realistically provide social housing to the extent that is needed.

And sadly BTW, there will be no architect in the NSW government, as Elizabeth Farrelly got barely a quarter of a quota in her bid for an upper house seat (also one quarter of the informal or blank votes). Name recognition (from years of feisty columns in the SMH) will only carry you so far, when the big parties come knocking. Or perhaps it was because her policies were indistinguishable from the Greens? Or that ten people on a ticket can all be ‘independent’ under one name?

Out in the ‘burbs

Whilst on the subject of housing, your correspondent has had a chance to ply his part-time trade in the dailies; firstly banging on about housing, and then suburbia, in the Sydney Morning Herald, and then penning an opinion piece in The Age on an excellent report by Infrastructure Victoria. It advocates 10 strategic changes to be made to halt the ever-expanding annulus of suburbs, and instead to increase the housing in existing suburbs, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure.

The report notes that it's four times more expensive to provide infrastructure in the remote fringe than it is within the existing fabric of the city. The Age carried several other pieces by real journalists on various aspects including ending first home buyers grants and stamp duty, and the rise of townhouses and small apartments.

Tesla cheapskates

This image may seem boring but hang in there - it tells an interesting story. As part of Tesla’s sales pitch as the first large-scale electric car seller in Australia, charging stations were installed in numerous locations, including eight in this basement of the Sydney’s Broadway Shopping Centre. Originally free, they now charge to charge (linked to your Tesla account).

Centre management then installed 3 free charging stations for EVs, and all the trouble started. Tesla owners started using the free chargers, forgoing the few bucks it takes on their dedicated Tesla stations, and freezing out the owners of non-Teslas (your correspondent has three). You’ve gotta be some sort of arrogant champion cheapskate to shell out a $100,000+ for an EV, and then take up other’s charging spaces as you seek a freebie. There'll be a bust in the basement soon.

Two other Tesla tidbits: Tesla have been saying for a long time that they will make their chargers available to other makes, but nothing happens. Their hubris blinds them to a good business opportunity. Pure Musk. And, by the way, my casual survey suggests that Tesla owners have the highest number of personalised number plates. Mostly on the lines of ‘NOCO2’. Oh, actually that was on my Merc EV.Acronym of the week: DUDEs

Our series on acronyms turns a spotlight on property. Firstly there’s, DUDEs, Developers Under Delusional Expectations. They like to put on the SLAPP, a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation as well as BANY - Builders Against NIMBYs, which leads to a LULU, a Locally Unacceptable Land Use, and when they finally retire, they are BOBO, Burnt out. But Opulant.

Bookends: Housing Policies in the 70s

Bookends this week returns to housing, and two critical books from the 1970s, unfortunately long since out of print. Both demonstrated the care that architects and planners were taking to see quality housing built in Australia. Living and Partly Living, published in 1971, was written by giants of the age, architects Ian Mackay and Robin Boyd, urban theorist Hugh Stratton and, IMHO our finest planner, the recently deceased John Mant. The book is beautifully presented: four essays followed by exemplar schemes, set out by graphic designer Harry Williamson to make a most handsome book. The housing schemes stand the test of time.

Five years later Melbourne architect Graeme Gunn, developer David Yenken and planner John Patterson, produced a manifesto that is as pressing today as it was then. A Mansion or No House describes the rising inequality when a third have glamorous homes featured in the glossies and a third rent or have no home at all. The book was a clarion call to change regulations and politics, but it only worsened in the almost 50 years since it was written. Again, there were pages of photographs that demonstrated the care that was being taken when recognising that modest is a desirable adjective when it comes to housing.

More things next week. Tone Wheeler is an architect / the views expressed are his / contact at toneontuesday@gmail.com.

Tone Wheeler

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