2026-07-29
Australian households are being pushed to the brink as real wages fall and inflation accelerates.
New CPI data today shows inflation remains high at 3.8% (in the 12 months to June 2026), adding further strain in a cost of living crisis.
Housing costs are driving inflation. They increased by 6.8% while dwelling prices rose 5.8% in the 12 months to June. Rents rose 3.6% in that same period with the one-third of Australians who are renters the least able to absorb the shock of price spikes in essentials.
With fuel prices set to rise on Sunday and the fuel excise cut ending, the Greens are again calling on the Federal Government to introduce a 12 month rent freeze and a moratorium on no-cause evictions to protect renters during the fuel crisis.
Lines attributable to Greens spokesperson for finance, workplace relations, employment and housing Senator Barbara Pocock:
“High inflation means that too many households are just one rent increase away from eviction or homelessness. A rent freeze and ban on evictions will give people more security in a cost of living and fuel crisis.
“Households across the country are already doing it tough. They’re struggling to pay their rent and mortgages, as well as the cost of essentials, while they watch their wages go backwards.
“Working people are seeing their real wages go backwards, while Labor lets the cost of housing and essentials surge out of control.
“Working Australians are in deep stress. They’re watching the banks and property developers profit from a housing crisis out of control, while their wages are going backwards.
“Rents are rising at record rates forcing people to spend more than 30% of their income just to keep a roof over their heads.
"Renters don't have a buffer - they are the buffer. When interest rates rise, landlords pass the cost straight on.
“Labor's failed plans to fix the housing crisis are not touching the sides. After four years of rapidly increasing house prices and astronomical increases in rents, we urgently need solutions.
"Labor's priorities are clear: tax handouts for wealthy investors, super profits for corporations, and higher costs for everyone else.
“The Government must freeze rents and stop no cause evictions. They need to invest directly and at scale in good quality public housing and stop fiddling at the edges with things like the 5% deposit scheme, which actually pushes prices up to make the housing crisis worse.”
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