Thursday, 23 February 2023

Responses

Danny PEARSON (Essendon – Minister for Government Services, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC, Minister for Consumer Affairs) (17:33): The member for Sandringham raised a question for the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, and I will pass that on to the minister. The member for Northcote raised a question to the Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for Climate Action, and I will pass that on as well. The member for Gippsland South raised a question for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. I will pass that on. The members for Pascoe Vale and Croydon both raised questions for the Minister for Education, and I will pass those on. The member for Clarinda raised a question to the Minister for Community Sport, and I will pass that on.

The member for Richmond raised a question for me, and I am delighted that this forum gives me an opportunity to respond to the member now. This government has been incredibly proud of the achievements that it has made to make significant reforms to the rental system. These reforms have been wideranging and quite extensive. Indeed they are something that I, as an elected representative in the seat of Essendon, am very proud of because I believe it is important that we provide protection to private renters. It is of course very important to recognise, though, the broad continuum of public housing and social housing and private housing stock. I am sure the part-time member for Richmond would appreciate the fact that the more housing stock you have in, the more it will have a deflationary impact upon prices. So I have always found it very curious – very, very curious – that the Greens political party have used every opportunity to oppose every single public housing and social housing development this government has put forward since 2014.

Let us go back to our first term of government. Strap yourself in, member for Richmond. I know this is your last meeting for the working week, but I have got plenty of time, and I am going to use every moment I can. I recall when the Greens political party and the Liberal Party signed up together – got together, conspired together – to, for example, use their numbers in the other place to torpedo the Markham development. Why? Because the Greens political party believe that ownership of public land is somehow a higher social good than ensuring that the most disadvantaged, most discriminated against members of our society have roofs over their heads – every single time.

I recall in my own electorate in the wonderful, wonderful community of Flemington the then member for Melbourne – because he represented that area in federal Parliament – organising rallies, organising campaigns to prevent the redevelopment of that community. Did the federal member for Melbourne, in the nine years of the coalition government, ever raise the issue that maybe the federal coalition government should be doing more for housing? Nope. Why fight the tories when you can fight us? That is the view of the Greens political party. That is all they are interested in. They just want to stop us and prevent us from doing what is right and fair and reasonable: providing more social housing for the people who need it most.

I recognise the fact that the member for Richmond is a former councillor at the City of Yarra and look back to –

Ellen Sandell: On a point of order, Speaker, just on relevance, the adjournment matter was very clearly about protections in the private rental market. I understand that the landlord minister over here may not understand the needs of renters given his extensive portfolio, but it was a very reasonable adjournment matter, and he is straying quite far from answering that.

Danny PEARSON: On the point of order, Speaker, as I indicated to the member asking the question, this was an issue around rental costs and the fact that rents are going up. Now, I can appreciate the fact that the member for Melbourne might not grasp basic economics, but what I would say to the member for Melbourne is if there is more supply, it will drop down prices.

The SPEAKER: Order! That is not a point of order.

Danny PEARSON: Sorry. I am saying that I was being entirely relevant to the question that was asked of me by the member for Richmond because of the points I have outlined.

The SPEAKER: There are previous rulings from the Chair that a minister responding to adjournment matters has a far greater breadth in responding to those matters that are raised as opposed to being in question time, so the minister can continue.

Danny PEARSON: Thank you, Speaker. As I was saying, it comes down to making sure that you have got more of that supply available. Again, the federal member for Melbourne could have made an effort to fight for more funding from the coalition government; he chose not to do that, and this is where we find ourselves. This is about making sure that you have got more supply coming to the market and making sure that there are more opportunities for the community to have more housing stock available to it.

As I said, the member for Richmond was a councillor at the City of Yarra, and the City of Yarra has consistently opposed every single development in relation to the Big Housing Build. It is all good and well to come in here and say, ‘You need to be doing more for private renters.’ If we have got more social housing in a community like Yarra, then that means there are fewer people competing for those private dwellings in the private market, which will have a deflationary impact on prices. It follows. You cannot turn around and run that argument in Smith Street, saying ‘We oppose these sorts of developments. We’re against this’, and then come here and say ‘You need to be doing more to provide more housing for the private tenants.’ It just does not wash. You cannot say one thing in Smith Street and say another thing in Spring Street and think you are going to get away with it. It just does not work that way.

No-one likes a hypocrite, no-one likes a fake and no-one likes a phoney, and the reality is that you have got to be consistent in relation to your values. On this side of the house we have put our money where our mouth is. We have invested extensively in housing right across this state – the biggest social housing build in the nation’s history. Do you ever get any credit from those opposite? Nup. They just say, ‘Oh well, if we kind of like it, we’ll sort of take credit for it, and if we don’t like it, we won’t.’ Let us look at more recent history, where you had the Albanese Labor government bringing a bill into the house to establish a Housing Affordability Fund, a $10 billion fund. Where were the Greens? They were off drinking their green tea at Aussies or the trough. They did not vote. Ten billion dollars and they squibbed it. What is all that about? If you really care about this stuff, put your shoulder to the wheel and get on with it – like, support it.

This government has introduced the most far-ranging and wide-sweeping reforms in relation to providing more protection for private renters than any government has ever done –

Ellen Sandell interjected.

The SPEAKER: The member for Melbourne will cease interjecting.

Danny PEARSON: but you never get any credit from these people at all. There is never any recognition of the reforms this government has made – the most progressive government in this nation’s history. So I am sorry, but it is a bit hard to take a lecture from the member for Richmond in relation to providing greater protection for rights of tenants when we have done so much already, when we have invested heavily in terms of social housing, and they have opposed us. Every single step of the way they have opposed us. So we will not be taking lectures from the Greens political party on anything to do with tenants, on anything to do with housing – on anything at all. They are irrelevant, and they do not deserve to be taken seriously in this place.

On that, I will say the member for Glen Waverley raised a question for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and I will ensure I pass it on.

Danny O’Brien: Have a crack at him, why don’t you? Go and have a crack at him about something too.

The SPEAKER: Order! Through the Chair.

Danny PEARSON: You’re not going home tonight, are you, mate?

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, through the Chair.

Danny PEARSON: Sorry, Speaker. The member for Mornington raised a question for the Minister for Environment, and the member for Laverton raised a question to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. I will ensure that those matters are passed on to those relevant ministers.

The SPEAKER: The house now stands adjourned.

House adjourned 5:42 pm.