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National Housing Emergency

A child asks her mother how the economy is today. The mother is paddling her car through floodwaters with a 'Vote 1' placard. The mother replies, 'Feeling particularly strong'.

David Pope used floods to powerful effect as a metaphor for the rising tide of housing insecurity. Across the country, vacancy rates hit record lows. Asking rents had increased 20 per cent since the beginning of the pandemic. The strong economy is shown as being of little comfort for those struggling to meet their basic need for housing.