More apartments mean less trees and hotter cities

Thursday 20 March 2025

The Albanese government has set a fantastical target of building 1.2 million homes over five years.

To meet this target, Australia would need to build many shoebox apartments.

New South Wales and Victoria have introduced planning reforms allowing the blanket construction of high-rise towers across Sydney and Melbourne activity centres.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.