Labor housing figure analysis on shaky foundations
The Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Nick Champion, has been called out for celebrating the government’s failure on the face of the ABS Building Activity Data.
Shadow Minister for Housing, Josh Teague, says the figure of 14,130 completed homes in the year to March 2026 is woefully short of the roughly 16,700 annual completions the Malinauskas Labor Government signed up to as part of the National Housing Accord in 2024.
“I really hope that the new homes being built in South Australia are on far more solid foundations than Minister Champion’s claims about his Government’s house building ‘success’,” Mr Teague said.
“It’s easier to ‘hit’ a target when you revise it down 20% from what you originally committed to,” Mr Teague said.
The completion targets for each State and Territory under the National Housing Accord are based on population, with South Australia’s share coming in at just over 16,700 each year over the five years of the plan.
“The Malinauskas Labor Government knew it had no prospect of hitting that target, so during the election campaign earlier this year it announced, with much fanfare, that Labor would instead settle for a new, lower, target of 13,500,” Mr Teague said.
“The government appears committed mainly to its attempt to paint itself in positive light.”
“It’s good to build more homes in SA, but the Malinauskas Labor Government has a backlog of almost 6,000 homes just to catch up to where it should be under the accord.
“Completion numbers are still nowhere near where they should be and we’re only falling further behind.”
Adding further concern, the ABS figures show dwelling completions for detached houses in SA are at the lowest seasonally adjusted level since September 2023, while our state’s growth of total dwelling completions is just 0.76% – the second lowest in the nation.
The Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Nick Champion, has been called out for celebrating the government’s failure on the face of the ABS Building Activity Data.
Shadow Minister for Housing, Josh Teague, says the figure of 14,130 completed homes in the year to March 2026 is woefully short of the roughly 16,700 annual completions the Malinauskas Labor Government signed up to as part of the National Housing Accord in 2024.
“I really hope that the new homes being built in South Australia are on far more solid foundations than Minister Champion’s claims about his Government’s house building ‘success’,” Mr Teague said.
“It’s easier to ‘hit’ a target when you revise it down 20% from what you originally committed to,” Mr Teague said.
The completion targets for each State and Territory under the National Housing Accord are based on population, with South Australia’s share coming in at just over 16,700 each year over the five years of the plan.
“The Malinauskas Labor Government knew it had no prospect of hitting that target, so during the election campaign earlier this year it announced, with much fanfare, that Labor would instead settle for a new, lower, target of 13,500,” Mr Teague said.
“The government appears committed mainly to its attempt to paint itself in positive light.”
“It’s good to build more homes in SA, but the Malinauskas Labor Government has a backlog of almost 6,000 homes just to catch up to where it should be under the accord.
“Completion numbers are still nowhere near where they should be and we’re only falling further behind.”
Adding further concern, the ABS figures show dwelling completions for detached houses in SA are at the lowest seasonally adjusted level since September 2023, while our state’s growth of total dwelling completions is just 0.76% – the second lowest in the nation.
I really hope that the new homes being built in South Australia are on far more solid foundations than Minister Champion’s claims about his Government’s house building ‘success’.
