The state's public housing waiting registrar has 47,000 applicants, a rise of 68 per cent since 2017.

The government invested $1.6 billion to construct 5500 social and affordable homes that year.

About 1400 homes have been completed over the four years the program has been running, or about 350 homes a year.

Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch called the program the biggest public investment in housing since World War II.

But the Queensland Council of Social Services says after the war, the state was actually building more public housing and quicker than it is today.

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh says about 1500 public housing units were being built each year to keep up with demand in the late 1940s.

"If a similar per capita investment were made today, we'd be building 5400 homes each year," she said in a statement.

"People are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. The COVID crisis has shown us how important housing is for people's health and for the health of all Queenslanders, but the pandemic has worsened the housing crisis."

In contrast to Queensland, the Victorian government last month earmarked $80 million to rapidly build almost 240 homes across the state.

The Andrews government also allocated $5.3 billion to build 12,000 new social housing units across Victoria, boosting the state's supply by 10 per cent, in their November budget.

The opposition Liberal National Party and crossbenchers from the Greens and Katter's Australian Party are pushing for substantial government investment in public housing in the upcoming June budget.

Opposition housing spokesman Tim Mander said the state should be building more housing rather than selling it off.

"The state government needs to engage with community groups and the not-for-profit sector so vulnerable Queenslanders can get a roof over their head," he told AAP.

"Queensland battlers are being horribly let down."

Greens housing spokeswoman Amy MacMahon wants an immediate investment of $4.1 billion to build 14,700 homes to help those most in need.

"The only reason that we, in a wealthy state like Queensland, have a housing crisis, is a lack of political will," Ms MacMahon told AAP.

Katter's Australian Party leader Robbie Katter also backed state government investment in public housing construction.

However, he said the Labor government should ensure there's housing being built in regional and remote areas.

"When they're building housing stock it's not rebuilt in that same area, so if there's public housing sold in Cloncurry or Mount Isa a new one doesn't get rebuilt there," Mr Katter told AAP.

The Queensland housing minister said the Commonwealth should intervene and assist with funding for more social housing in the state.

"Back in the 1940s the federal government actually invested in social housing. Most of the construction for social housing post World War Two was possible because of federal government support," Ms Enoch said in a statement.

"We're not seeing that today.

"This week the Morrison government turned its back on vulnerable Queenslanders when the federal budget revealed no new investment in social housing.

QCOSS launched the Town of Nowhere campaign on Thursday, calling for landmark investment in public and social housing in Queensland.

The Town of Nowhere campaign's name reflects that the 47,000 people on the housing waiting list is greater than the population of many large towns in Queensland.

Australian Associated Press