By Alan Moran, Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), August 2006

A house provides us with a place of rest, a place for our possessions, and a place to raise our families. Not only this, but a house is often the largest investment we make during our lifetime.

However housing is becoming unaffordable for more and more people. Governments across Australia have restricted the supply of land, increased charges on new properties and amplified the number and intensity of regulations, making the Great Australian Dream - to own a home - a rarer privilege for Australians.

"I think there’s an enormous amount of time wasted by people trying to plan for long periods ahead, when history has shown that you just can’t do this. You can’t place restrictions on people because of things you think should happen in 20 years, when we have absolutely no idea of what is likely to be the situation at that time." —Clem Jones (ALP), Lord Mayor of Brisbane, 1961–1975

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