[MattSAU2XR8]

I think a large part of the problem would indeed be supply and demand

Assuming there are around 25 million people in Australia and average household size is about 2.5 people, this means 10 million dwellings are needed

If nearly all available rentals are taken then landlords can continue to increase rents, which in turn increases what the rental property is worth, i.e. a property that can charge $500 per week is 'worth' around $500k, putting aside speculation

Now assume that all the rental properties are full and the government imports 50,000 extra citizens - they are of course going to be competing in the existing market and so prices go up further

On the other hand if the government said 'no extra citizens' and instead fast-tracked some land development, or even unit complexes with reasonable land prices then the pool of properties would increase in size, landlords would be at a relative disadvantage, rents would come down, and so would property values.

Also, if land were made available a little cheaper then more people could but heir own home and again less competition for rentals.

Certainly where I live on the sunshine coast there is plenty of land within 10 kms of the coast being used for low yield farming and agistment that is certainly not worth $300k per quarter acre, even with roads and plumbing installed...