When Housing and Homelessness Minister Julie Collins released the paper as part of National Homelessness Week, she noted at least 122,000 Australians had indicated they were homeless on census night in 2021.

That figure is almost certainly higher today given a succession of interest rate rises, soaring rents and record levels of immigration. Aspiring renters and first home buyers are between the devil and the deep blue sea. Even if they can find a property to rent, it is going to cost an arm and a leg with vacancy rates at all time lows.

If they want to buy, the odds are against them thanks to wage stagnation, rising real estate prices, and escalating borrowing costs. To put it into perspective, last year home values rose on average by 8.1 per cent and rents have risen by around nine per cent. Both of those figures are well above inflation.

If things are tough for couples with two incomes and some money in the bank, spare a thought for those on JobSeeker, a pension or other fixed incomes who are trying to find a secure and affordable place to live.

It is no coincidence the fastest growing cohort of the homeless are women over 55.

The battlers are faced with "mission impossible". That's why reports of people living in cars, in caravans on undeveloped blocks in country towns, couch surfing or even living in tents are now commonplace.

Things haven't been this tough since the Great Depression when tens of thousands of people lost their jobs and then lost their homes. The irony is that today not even having two incomes in the family can guarantee a roof over a family's head.

It seems inevitable things are going to get a lot worse before they begin getting better. That's because nothing the government has announced to date will even make a dent in the housing shortage.

Although the government has said it will reduce the immigration intake, the numbers are still too high. While it welcomes mass immigration because it drives growth and has, to date, kept Australia out of technical recession, individuals and families are paying the price for the stimulus.

It is generally accepted the economy did slip into a per capita recession in 2023, with household incomes going backwards. All of these factors have contributed to the most dramatic slump in new home construction starts since 2012.

Work commenced on just 37,116 houses, apartments, units and other dwellings in the September quarter. That was a year-on-year decline of 17 per cent.

These figures would suggest, despite claims to the contrary by Minister Collins, that the Albanese government's pledge to build 1.2 new homes over the next five years is a pipe dream.

At this rate it would be lucky to deliver one tenth of that amount. If anything is going to make the Albanese government a one term wonder, it will be the housing crisis. Australia is one of the richest nations on earth. If the government can't house people it will pay dearly at the ballot box.