HOUSES

The big preoccupation at the moment with Government (and people who haven’t got

them) is “houses”.

Despite the government's prediction there’s no way they will reach their target and

even if they did there will still be a massive shortfall. Because Australian’s (some of

them!) are getting lazier and not prepared to work hard anymore, we have to keep

immigration high to fill essential jobs, but where are they going to live?

The powers that be seem to think that everyone needs one of those cream brick jobs

with a grey roof, lined up shoulder to shoulder with a token back yard, that cost

around $500,000 each. They continue to ignore “hempcrete” which I never get sick

of writing about. The amazing material that is fire and waterproof, relatively cheap,

and “actually breathes” – eliminating the need for heating and cooling. The only

people to miss out there would be the air conditioning / heating businesses, but I

reckon they would still have plenty of work. There is more and more “hempcrete”

becoming available with the ever increasing planting of industrial hemp (Cannabis

sativa), as farmer’s find it and increasingly profitable crop, and more reliable with our

often unreliable weather conditions.

But that is only part of the solution. What about containers? A lot of people might

think that there only use in importing/exporting our products. In fact, they make

excellent dwellings for a very cheap outlay. I’ve lived in one in the Northern Territory

for many months, running a particular camel operation. They can be fitted out to

meet any budget, from single containers of different sizes, to several joined together.

They are easily transported to any location. If Councils dismounted from their high

horses, and allowed them, this big housing problem could be drastically reduced.

There are caravan parks all around the country – why not “container” parks... well

designed and conveniently located next to essential services. All of the people that

make these decisions live in “comfortable” houses – how about sparing a thought for

the poor bastards that are trying to survive with increasing rents, or are living under a

cardboard box. That’s nothing for Australia to be proud of.

Tiny houses – are another very good alternative. Make it easier for people to utilize

these houses. A lot of Council’s frown on them or ban them outright.

It’s simply a fact of life that it is no longer every Australians right to own a house on a

quarter acre block like it used to be.

Container parks in particular could be imaginatively landscaped, and would look a lot

more attractive around country towns than the present rash of grey rooves being

built.

Many single and (often lonely) people often live in large houses. With a few

attractive incentives, some of these could be made available to be divided, to allow

for two families. Arguably, this could keep many elderly people from having to live in

aged care facilities, with the younger occupiers looking after the older ones. It might

be hard to make sure the original elderly owners were not being taken advantage of

but surely that could be monitored. I know this has all been brought up before.

There is an excellent Melbourne business “Frontier Life Construction Company”.

They create movable modular homes made from Australian materials with a high fire

rating. All people need is the land. Why don’t we hear these alternatives aired by the

media?