There have been big headlines around Australian in the wake of the new Federal Government’s first Budget.

They’re going to build a million new homes in five years to solve the housing shortage crisis.

There’s been widespread – although not universal – applause, because it looks and sounds great at first glance.

And, as you can imagine, the organisations that represent builders and developers are expressing considerable glee. No surprise there – it sounds like a windfall for them.

But that’s at first glance.

At second and third glance, it looks to me like a spectacular failure by the new Federal Government and by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who is Federal Labor’s bright-eyed boy and no doubt their future leader.

It’s a spectacular failure because it shows that the Government does not understand the real issues here, how the problems were created and where the genuine solutions lie.