Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader and Housing spokesperson
During the COVID emergency period, Tasmania’s Parliament demonstrated it is possible to ensure no-one is left behind. The Greens ensured the COVID legislation provided for a prohibition on rent increases and evictions throughout the emergency period.
Since the end of those protections on 1 February this year, many Tasmanian tenants have received notice of sharp, unaffordable rent increases. We moved to institute rent controls in the last week of Parliament, but only the Greens supported the legislation, which mirrors the ACT’s rental control laws.
The Gutwein Government is failing to protect tenants and Labor has no answers.
The Greens are proud to release our renters’ rights policy – ‘A Fair Go for Tenants’. It would amend the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 to control rents, stop dodgy leases, make better allowance for pets and ban no-cause evictions.
We recognise that access to secure, affordable housing is a fundamental human right. In a healthy economy, no one should ever be left out in the cold.
Yet in Tasmania, weak tenancy laws, the undersupply of affordable housing, underinvestment in public housing and failure to regulate short stay accommodation over the past seven years have driven people into housing insecurity, homelessness and poverty.
The housing crisis shows no sign of abating. For tenants, soaring rents and the threat of eviction are causing deep housing insecurity and driving more people towards poverty.
We can do much better by Tasmanian tenants. Our plan doesn’t target landlords, it puts the focus on renters, and their right to a secure, affordable home.
The Greens’ plan resets the balance. It gives a fair go to tenants, strengthening their rights and bringing down their cost of living.
You can read our plan here - https://tasmps.greens.org.au/green-new-deal/fair-go-tenants