Voters call for action on rising rents, house prices as Tasmanian state election nears
Half of her income is spent on rent, with little left over to save for a house deposit.
"It's hard … when you scroll through the (real estate) listings and you see the prices and they just keep going up and up and you're still not close to having a deposit you would need," she said.
Ms Bird has been a renter since she was 16 and at times found herself without a home and couch surfing.
Reflecting on the impact of housing insecurity, she said "you don't want to find yourself in a situation where you don't have a home".
She said even short periods without housing can have lasting consequences, such as gaps in your rental history, which can make it harder to secure the next home.
Stable housing is her number one financial priority.
Ms Bird would like to see the next government look beyond simply building more public housing and consider supporting the establishment of housing co-operatives like the ones she grew up in.
"Having lived in two co-ops in Tasmania, the housing was so affordable …. because your rent is according to your income," she said.
Ms Bird said the Hobart cooperative she lived in had around 15 households all living on a single large property, with some shared infrastructure.
She said some of the benefits of the model are a strong sense of community and mutual support among cooperative members.
"Co-operative housing presents a lesser burden to government … primarily because it is self-managed," she said.
Tasmania's housing market has changed over the past 10 years.
According to CoreLogic, the median house value has almost doubled from $315,688 (June 2015) to $609,265 (June 2025).
Data from the Tenants Union of Tasmania shows the median rent across the state has gone up from $266 per week (March 2015) to $469 per week (March 2025).
That's an increase of 76 per cent.
The rental vacancy rate in Hobart is 0.6 per cent, according to SQM research.
"It's become increasingly difficult for people to keep a roof over their head but also juggle the other costs with housing including keeping the lights on and putting food on their table," said Ben Bartl, principal lawyer with the Tenants Union of Tasmania.
According to Homes Tasmania's May data, there are 5,097 households waiting for social housing.
Priority applicants are waiting on average 97 weeks.
Three years ago, the Liberal government committed to building 10,000 social and affordable homes by 2032.
So far, 4,381 homes have been completed.
But counting towards that target are things like vacant residential land lots.
"We don't think that is an accurate indicator; the data should be just homes that have been completed," said Ben Bartl.
He said there are better ways to assess how many homes need to be built.
The ABC's Your Say platform has heard from voters wanting housing reforms.
Jane said "build social housing now".
"Stop suburban sprawl. Build more high-density housing and improve public transport," said David.
"Put a levy on unoccupied houses. Holiday homes and Airbnb should attract additional taxes," said Anne.
Jon said planning for housing "should be streamlined".
Among the election promises from the Liberals is a plan to deliver an extra 200 modular homes.
The party has also vowed to lift the first home buyers' grant to $30 000.
Both Labor and the Liberals are promising to "cut red tape" so Tasmanians can build a home faster.
Labor has also promised to extend existing stamp duty concessions to newly built houses and release a monthly planning dashboard that compares council performance on housing and development approvals.
The Greens have promised to put an "immediate" stop to new whole-home short-stay conversions.
The party has also promised to establish a real estate and rental standards task force to address issues like rental bidding and false advertising.
Two years ago, the national cabinet agreed to strengthen renters' rights across Australia to improve the lives of the one-third of Australian households who rent.
The Better Deal for Renters included developing a nationally consistent reasonable grounds for eviction.
There was also an agreement to move towards limiting rent increases to once a year and phasing in minimum rental standards.
Ben Bartl said in Tasmania, there had been no progress on the reforms that were not already legislated.
He would like to see the next state government look at stabilising rents.
He suggests Tasmania should adopt the same model as Canberra, where rent can only be increased by CPI plus 10 per cent.
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The Advertiser
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While the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership involves the US, UK and Australia, the treaty is between the latter two nations, as a Pentagon review into the agreement threatens America's future participation. Australia and the UK are expected to lay out the bilateral aspects of the agreement and explore ways the two countries can work together over the next half-century. In a joint statement, Mr Marles and Senator Wong said the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations, or AUKMIN, were critical to the two nations' shared interests. "We take the world as it is - but together, we are working to shape it for the better," Senator Wong said. Under the $368 billion AUKUS program, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s. A new class of nuclear submarines will be built in Adelaide and delivered in the 2040s. 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