Since his election in 2022, David Pocock, independent senator for the ACT, has been a central part of the conversation around housing affordability and security across the nation. David is a staunch advocate for housing to be considered first and foremost as a human right, rather than a wealth creation vehicle. Given his key role in parliamentary debates about social and affordable housing, he was particularly well placed to be a speaker for CHIA 10th Affordable Housing Development and Investment Summit.

John Engeler, Shelter NSW CEO and National Shelter Chair, joined Senator David Pocock for a ‘fireside chat’ about community housing, affordable housing and more broadly housing policy around the country. 

Senator Pocock and John reflected on the need for housing supply to be affordable, high quality, and targeted to specific cohorts such as veterans, youth and others facing disadvantage or challenges. They acknowledged the success of the growth of the community housing sector while reminding government and sector partners there is a lot more to do to provide a secure and affordable home to all of those failed by an insufficiently regulated market.  

David and John were in strong agreement regarding the need to increase capital funding of the Housing Australia Future Fund to create a long term, at scale supply pipeline of social and affordable housing. They also discussed what sensible changes to the tax system to support home ownership and reduce incentives to speculate on housing might look like, including reform of capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing.   

John got strong endorsement from the highly engaged audience, when he thanked David for the chat on behalf of the sector, especially during this busy political time. John offered the following observation in concluding; in terms of what the community sees as fair and reasonable, instead of the ‘pub test’ many people now look to see if a policy idea will pass the ‘Pocock test’, and rightly so!