We hear about population growth, interest rates, construction costs and shortages of skilled workers. These pressures are real, but they do not explain why governments allowed housing supply and social housing to fall so far behind need.

The 2021 Census estimated that 22,428 Queenslanders were experiencing homelessness.

In 2024–25, approximately 54,700 Queenslanders received help from specialist homelessness services, and 61 per cent were already homeless when they first sought assistance.

Even more concerning, the number of Queensland clients experiencing persistent homelessness—defined as being homeless for more than seven months during a two-year period—more than doubled from about 4,200 in 2018–19 to more than 9,900 in 2024–25.

These are not merely housing statistics. They represent people sleeping in cars, moving between relatives, living in overcrowded accommodation or trying to raise children without a secure home.

The gap we have accepted

Queensland is part of one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

We have billionaires, investment portfolios and property empires at one end of society. At the other, people with jobs cannot find affordable rentals, families wait years for social housing and older Queenslanders face homelessness.

That gap should not be accepted as normal.

The existence of great wealth does not itself cause homelessness, and success should not be treated as shameful. But extraordinary private wealth existing alongside homelessness reveals something deeply wrong with our priorities.

A society capable of producing billionaires is capable of housing its people.

We do not lack land, knowledge or resources. What appears to be missing is the determination to organise them around a basic social obligation.

Governments are not powerless

Governments frequently talk about housing as though it is primarily a market problem.

But governments create the rules within which the housing market operates.

They decide where homes may be built, how long approvals take, what infrastructure is provided and how public land is used. They control social-housing investment, tenancy laws, taxation settings and many of the incentives affecting property investment.

Queensland’s social-housing supply has not kept pace with need. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the proportion of Queensland households living in social housing fell from 3.7 per cent in 2016 to 3.5 per cent in 2025.

As at 31 August 2026, the Queensland Government’s OpenHome dashboard recorded 41,995 people in 24,454 active households on the social-housing register.

The government has committed to delivering 53,500 additional social and community homes by 2044. Its latest figures report 4,672 homes delivered toward that target, with another 7,018 social and affordable homes under construction or contract.

That investment is welcome and should be acknowledged.

But the timetable also deserves scrutiny. For a family living in a car today, 2044 is not a housing solution.

The question is not whether governments are doing anything. It is whether they are acting at the speed and scale the crisis requires.

What initiative would look like

There is no single solution. That is not an excuse for failing to pursue several solutions at once.

Queensland could establish a permanent public development authority with the power to acquire land, build mixed-income housing and retain that housing for future generations.

Instead of continually selling valuable public sites, governments could retain ownership and offer long-term leases. Rental income could then help finance the next generation of homes.

Planning rules should allow more well-designed apartments, townhouses and smaller homes near transport, employment and services. This does not require turning every suburb into a forest of towers. It means providing more choices than detached houses on increasingly expensive blocks.

Secure, long-term renting should also become a genuine alternative to home ownership. Germany demonstrates how indefinite leases and stronger protections can give renters greater stability. Vienna shows what sustained municipal and publicly supported housing can achieve: the city owns about 220,000 homes, alongside approximately 200,000 co-operative homes.

Queensland should also audit assets already controlled by governments—surplus sites, underused offices, publicly owned car parks and land around transport corridors.

In appropriate locations, development above or beside railway infrastructure should be investigated. Japanese cities demonstrate how housing, shops, workplaces and services can be integrated with rail stations and surrounding land.

Not every railway site will be suitable. Engineering, noise, access and construction costs must be considered.

Railway land is not the answer to the housing crisis. It is one example of the initiative that has been missing.

Should housing be a right?

Access to safe, secure and affordable housing should be recognised as a fundamental right.

That would not mean every person receives a free house. Nor would it guarantee ownership of a detached home in a preferred suburb.

It would mean governments have a continuing obligation to make reasonable and measurable progress—and must explain themselves when they fail.

A Queensland or national Housing Rights and Accountability Act could establish long-term supply targets, transparent reporting and plans that cannot quietly disappear after an election.

Constitutional recognition would be a much larger step requiring a national debate and, ultimately, a referendum. Legislation could begin establishing the responsibility now.

A right without a plan to build homes would be an empty promise. A housing plan without accountability can be postponed, reduced or abandoned.

We need both supply and responsibility.

A home, not a handout

Stable housing helps people work, study, raise children and remain healthy. It can also reduce pressure on hospitals, police, crisis services and welfare organisations.

Affordable housing leaves households with more money to spend in local businesses instead of directing an ever-increasing share of their income toward rent or mortgage repayments.

Housing is not simply another consumer product. It is essential social and economic infrastructure.

For people across Wynnum, Manly and Brisbane’s bayside, this determines whether children can remain near their schools, older residents can stay in their community and essential workers can afford to live near their jobs.

Queensland cannot eliminate every housing difficulty overnight. But governments should no longer be permitted to present this crisis as something beyond their control.

The question is not whether we can provide abundant and secure housing.

We can.

The question is why it has not been treated with the urgency, initiative and responsibility Queenslanders should expect from governments that work for us.

Homelessness amid extraordinary wealth is not evidence that housing is an impossible problem. It is evidence that solving it has not been made important enough.

The concert will feature Robbie Williams, Ronan Keating, Natalie Imbruglia, Il Divo, Katherine Jenkins, Sheppard, Mark Vincent, Darren Hayes, Ann Wilson and The Corrs, alongside the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under conductor Keith Levenson.

Ticket sales have been recorded from at least 12 countries, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Spain and Singapore, as well as every Australian state and territory. The event was secured through the Queensland Government’s Mega and Strategic Events Fund.

• What: Carreras & Friends
• Where: The Gabba
• Bookings: Tickets are available through Ticketmaster

Source: Queensland Government ministerial statement.

York Street follows a young girl coming of age in Brisbane during the Second World War, when American servicemen arrived in the city and families lived with the uncertainty of loved ones serving overseas.

Loftus based the play on stories told by his mother about growing up in York Street, Coorparoo. The production looks at an ordinary Brisbane family living through the darker realities of wartime, while also showing the humour, warmth and family connections of everyday life.

The play revisits a city of dirt roads, backyard chook pens, horse-drawn carts and conversations over the back fence, as Brisbane began changing from what was often regarded as a large country town into a modern city.

Loftus has previously written four novels, including Celtic Blood, and co-wrote the Brisbane-filmed feature film Underdog’s Tale. The production will be directed by Brisbane theatre director Sherryl-Lee Secomb, whose credits include a Matilda Award nomination for Fun Home.

For older audiences, the play offers a way to revisit a Brisbane that has largely disappeared. For younger people, it provides a view of how the Pacific war affected ordinary families and their daily lives.

• Where: Mercury Theatre Company, Wynnum
• Bookings: Tickets are on sale through TryBooking

Sat, Nov 14 – Sat, Nov 21 – Sat, Nov 28

Police allege the woman approached the group, verbally harassed its members and attempted to remove religious clothing from some of them. They allege she left the area before returning a short time later, when further verbal harassment occurred.

The charge followed an investigation by officers from the Counter Terrorism Investigation Group, who executed a search warrant at a Manly address. Police subsequently charged the woman with one count of common assault with a serious vilification or hate crime circumstance of aggravation.

She is due to appear at Wynnum Magistrates Court. The charge is an allegation, and the matter will proceed through the courts.

Police are seeking information about the incident. Crime information can be reported anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Source: Queensland Police statement

On 3 November, the Reserve Bank lifted the official cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.85%, effective from 4 November. It was the fifth increase of 2026 and took the cash rate to its highest level since November 2008. The changes are recorded in the RBA’s official cash-rate history.

For a $600,000 principal-and-interest mortgage with 30 years remaining, a fully passed-on 0.25 percentage-point increase would add about $97 a month to repayments. The actual amount will vary with the loan’s interest rate and remaining term.

Higher rates are meant to slow inflation by cutting spending. But they do not cut it evenly. A family with a large mortgage can pay hundreds of dollars more each month after successive increases. Someone who owns their home outright sees little direct change, while people with substantial savings may receive more interest. Renters, young families and lower-income households still face rising costs for essentials.

So the question is simple: why should some Australians carry so much more of the burden of controlling inflation than others?

A temporary, inflation-linked tax

Australia could add a second tool alongside interest rates: a temporary surcharge applying only while inflation remains persistently above the Reserve Bank’s target.

One possible model—not a final proposal—could work like this:

• Who pays: taxable incomes above $250,000 and company profits demonstrably above a clearly defined normal return—not ordinary wage earners, small businesses or households already under pressure.
• When it starts: after two consecutive quarters of annual inflation above the 2–3% target.
• When it ends: automatically, once inflation has been back inside the range for two consecutive quarters.
• Where the money goes: to improving the budget balance rather than financing additional spending, so it genuinely takes demand out of the economy.

These thresholds are illustrative. The RBA operates a flexible 2–3% inflation target over time, rather than treating every quarterly result as a rigid boundary. Any surcharge would therefore need legislation specifying the inflation measure, corporate-profit benchmark, commencement rules and independent expiry test.

This would not be a permanent tax rise or a punishment for success. It would be a rules-based, self-expiring way to share the cost of fighting inflation more fairly.

Why cut services when people need them most?

The other common answer to inflation is cutting government spending. But cuts to health, education, disability support and community services hit hardest many of the same households already struggling with mortgages and rent. They can end up paying more to live while receiving less support.

A targeted surcharge offers another path: improve the budget position without stripping back the services people rely on.

Would it actually work?

It would not replace interest rates, and it has limits.

Higher-income households tend to save a greater proportion of their income. That means a dollar taxed from them may reduce immediate spending less than a dollar squeezed from a financially stretched mortgage holder. This is why the design matters: the revenue must improve the budget balance rather than fund additional spending, and the surcharge should share the load rather than replace the Reserve Bank’s role.

Taxing exceptional company profits also raises difficult questions. “Normal return” would have to be defined carefully, and policymakers would need competition, monitoring and anti-avoidance measures to reduce opportunities for businesses to shift profits or pass costs on to customers.

Today’s inflation is not simply the result of households spending too much. The Reserve Bank says higher oil and other commodity prices associated with the Middle East conflict are adding to inflation. But Governor Michele Bullock has also been explicit that interest rates cannot directly change global oil prices. The RBA says its tightening is aimed at domestic capacity pressures, including the risk that businesses can pass higher costs on while demand exceeds the economy’s ability to supply goods and services.

The idea of using fiscal policy alongside interest rates is not fringe. The International Monetary Fund has argued that fiscal tightening can help contain inflation and allow central banks to increase interest rates by less. It also stresses the importance of protecting vulnerable households.

Australia has already demonstrated that investment tax concessions can be reformed. Under changes announced in the May 2026 federal Budget, negative gearing of residential property will be limited to new builds from 1 July 2027, while properties held before the announcement are exempt. The government will also replace the 50% capital gains tax discount with an inflation-based discount and a 30% minimum tax rate. Those capital-gains changes apply only to gains accruing from 1 July 2027.

Time for a fairer debate

Controlling inflation matters. Letting prices run unchecked hurts everyone, especially people on low incomes. But how we control it matters too.

Repeatedly raising borrowing costs while weighing up cuts to services puts the heaviest load on mortgage holders and vulnerable households. A temporary, inflation-linked tax on those most able to contribute deserves a place in the debate, alongside responsible budgets and an independent Reserve Bank—not instead of them.

For bayside families, this is not abstract economics. It is about household budgets, affordable housing and the services our community depends on.

Inflation may be everyone’s problem. Controlling it should not fall on the same people every time.

The shows will be filmed in Brisbane, but the production has not confirmed the filming dates. That means people who register their interest will need to wait for further details about when the audience will be required.

The invitation is open to the wider Bayside community, including people who already follow the program and those who know someone who would like to attend. The live shows will be free, with no ticket price listed.

Audience members should also be prepared to stand during the filming. The audience will not be seated, which is the main practical detail confirmed for people considering registering.

• What: Big Brother live show audience
• Where: Screen Queensland Studios, Hemmant
• Cost: Free
• Bookings: Register your interest through the QR code or link provided in the published article

The registration details are available now, while the filming schedule remains to be confirmed.

Source: Wynnum Central

The screening is scheduled for Saturday 7 November 2026, 7pm to 8.40pm.

• What: Free outdoor screening of The Secret Life of Pets
• When: Saturday 7 November 2026, 7pm to 8.40pm
• Where: Little Bayside Park, Manly QLD 4179
• Cost: Free

More details are available through the Manly Harbour Village what’s on page.

The year-long fellowship will support Carmichael through mentoring, professional development and industry experience with QUT and Brisbane Powerhouse. The resulting work is expected to culminate in an exhibition at Brisbane Powerhouse in mid-2027.

Carmichael will develop a new body of work inspired by The Legend of Lightning’s Playground: The Creation Story of Gheebulum and Coonoongai on Mulgumpin. The project will be developed under the guidance of Ngugi Elder Uncle Bob Anderson.

The work will extend Carmichael’s multidisciplinary practice across weaving, cyanotypes, textiles and glass, exploring the relationship between story, place and material. She will also undertake a six-week residency at Canberra Glassworks, where she will have access to specialist facilities and expertise to develop new techniques.

“This Fellowship provides an opportunity to deepen my practice while remaining grounded in my identity as a Ngugi, Quandamooka woman,” Carmichael said.

Her work has been recognised through four finalist selections in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, the QUT Young Outstanding Alumni Award in 2024 and the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award in 2025. Her work is held in collections including the British Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.

Brisbane Powerhouse has published the full fellowship announcement.

The film is scheduled for Saturday 3 October 2026, 7pm to 8.40pm, with the screening expected to finish at 8.40pm.

• What: Free screening of Madagascar
• When: Saturday 3 October 2026, 7pm to 8.40pm
• Where: Little Bayside Park, Manly QLD 4179
• Cost: Free

Source: Manly Harbour Village what’s on

The event is scheduled for Saturday 31 October 2026, 1am at The Esplanade, Wynnum. The dance is being organised by Why Wynnum, with the target set one dancer above the stated current world record of 13,597.

Event details

• When: Saturday 31 October 2026, 1am
• Where: The Esplanade, 285 The Esplanade, Wynnum QLD 4178
• Bookings: Registration or ticket information is available through the event page
• Organiser: Why Wynnum

Source: Event details and registration information.