Yes, it is spin as it is supposedly a "projected" curve anyway. However, I don't think it should be at all. Also, the government might not direct it directly, but they can influence it. They let people take their super out to buy houses, right? No one was forced, but this helped inflate the housing prices, plus have those that did it less super for the future. Padding more pockets.
I agree with your point that Australia shouldn't be doing any deals with the US at the moment, and should be selling any surplus minerals on the open market (ideally with royalties for the Australian people similar to Norway's gas royalties).
And investing into local private innovation development. The Norwegians were shrewd.
Yeah, Australian governments are in a really weird spot in that home owners outnumber non-home owners - so if they pass policy that reduces housing prices, they lose the next election - but younger generations now outnumber boomers so if they don't make housing more accessible then they lose the next election.
So you have to create enough housing but not too much to try and keep everyone happy... although personally I would tackle things like negative gearing to make it less appealing to own many properties as investments. Maybe the more you have the less you get back.