SA Greens call for rent freeze ahead of state budget
The South Australian Greens claim to have a solution to fund their wishlist of demands sent to Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis ahead of the 2026-27 State Budget.
As the annual state budget day looms on Thursday this week, the South Australian Greens are calling on Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis to include a 12-month rent freeze in its list of demands.
In a letter to Koutsantonis dated May 29, 2026, SA Greens leader Robert Simms and new Greens legislative councillor Melanie Selwood called on the government to invest more in housing, public and active transport and healthcare.
They also called on the government to ban pokies, to end support for the fossil fuel industry, to introduce free school breakfasts and lunches, to protect ecosystems and to expand green space.
The Greens the measures should be paid for by dumping the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment, ending all subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and increasing the Betting Operations Tax to 30 per cent.
More funds also could be raised by raising mining royalties to 20 per cent of the value of resources and raising the petroleum royalty to 25 per cent of the well head value, plus introducing a big bank levy.
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They said a rise in inflation, caused by the cost of housing and transport, was “increasing the cost of essentials and pushing more South Australians to go without basic needs like food, shelter, and healthcare”.
“The proposed expenditure and revenue measures aim to strike a balance between supporting South Australia’s most vulnerable and ensuring corporations and the ultra-wealthy contribute their fair share of tax to ease cost-of-living pressures,” they wrote.
Housing and homelessness
- An immediate rent freeze to deal with the cost-of-living pressures.
- Ongoing funding for Hutt Street’s Aspire Program.
- Urgently fund the establishment of a homelessness peak advocacy body.
- Increase funding to the homelessness support sector.
- Build more than 20,000 new homes and increase the amount of affordable housing.
- Double the level of funding provided by the state government to Foodbank SA and NT.
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Public and Active Transport
- Free public transport, including on trains, trams and buses.
- The establishment of a $1 million fund administered to councils for ‘pop-up’ cycleways and to retrofit existing bike lanes.
Healthcare
- Waive ambulance fees for those on the Aged Pension, as well as other concession cardholders.
- Subsidise PrEP (preexposure prophylaxis) in South Australia, a drug that prevents the transmission of HIV.
Schools
- Introduce a free, healthy breakfast and lunch program in all state primary and high schools.
- Capital expenditure grant fund to cover the costs of basic infrastructure, as well as expanding kitchen space and eating areas.
Environment
- Double funding for nature restoration to prevent the degradation of the natural environment and the decline of native species.
- Establish a green space strategy to “rapidly” expand canopy cover and the number of green spaces across South Australia.
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