Housing affordability
Adem SOMYUREK (Northern Metropolitan) (10:04): I call on the Andrews government to put aside electoral competition with the Greens in the marginal inner-city seats, which have high concentrations of renters, and do the right thing by Victorians by using the policy levers at its disposal to ameliorate the housing crisis where there is market failure so that it can deliver a sustainable solution for renters. Where there is market failure in essential services, governments must intervene. The rental crisis is a symptom of the housing crisis. Adopting reckless, populist policy instruments advocated by the Greens will lead to disaster for renters, as it will provide a disincentive to building more housing stock. As I sat in the chamber yesterday morning listening to Dr Ratnam railing against market mechanisms, for a moment I felt like I was back at a Labor Party state conference with the usual Socialist Left maddies railing against free markets. But while most Socialist Left leaders accepted market mechanisms after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Comrade Ratnam I see is still fighting the Cold War. Dr Ratnam reminds me of the Japanese soldier who continued to fight 30 years after World War II had stopped. I remind the government that the Greens are all care and no responsibility. The government must not allow themselves to be dragged into a race to the bottom by the populist policies of the Greens on this very, very important issue.