In this lively and thoughtful inaugural John Curtin Research Centre essay, Zelinsky argues that the present housing market reflects a dangerous public policy failure where a worthwhile national aspiration – the so-called ‘Australian dream’ of owning your own home – has combined with generous tax concessions, poor government planning and a lack of investment imagination to pose a serious threat to our ‘fair go’ economy and society. This report presents an impassioned case for saving the great Australian dream.