Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Questions without notice and ministers statements

Public housing

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:01): My question is to the Premier. Twenty-eight-year-old Maddy from Sale is homeless and has been couch surfing for three years. She has been on the priority housing waiting list since early 2021. Ahead of the last election Labor promised people like Maddy would have ‘the safety, security and dignity of a home’. How many more years will Maddy have to wait, or is the dignity of a home just another broken Labor promise?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:02): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The example he provided to the house of Maddy, who is currently experiencing the vulnerability of the challenges of being homeless in Sale, is one that concerns the government greatly. Should the Leader of the Opposition want to share the details of Maddy’s circumstances, we would welcome that opportunity to work with Maddy and her local community, because I know housing providers in regional Victoria are working really, really hard to address the many and complex challenges that come with people experiencing homelessness.

I say that we are also working hard, whether it is through the billion-dollar Regional Housing Fund, which is being rolled out across regional Victoria to invest in an additional 1300 social and affordable homes across regional Victoria –

John Pesutto: Will it help her?

Jacinta ALLAN: Yes, Leader of the Opposition, that is an initiative that would help provide more housing across regional Victoria. What we also need to do to help people like Maddy and others across the state is to build more homes and look at everything we can do. We are doing that as a government, whether it is through the work of the planning minister on bringing her tools to the task of building more homes – the tools across government – but we need this place, we need the Parliament, to have in place the supports, whether it is through the passing of legislation, not blocking motions in the upper house –

Roma Britnell interjected.

The SPEAKER: The member for South-West Coast, I would ask you to not provide a running commentary.

Jacinta ALLAN: as we have seen the Liberal Party do too often with the Greens political party, siding up to block housing developments that are about providing support for people like Maddy.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier knows not to debate the question.

The SPEAKER: The Premier has concluded her answer.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): Maddy says she is in a vicious cycle: she cannot hold down a job without a stable home and she cannot get private accommodation without a job. The government’s target for priority public rental housing is 10.5 months, but Maddy has been waiting 36 months. When will the government meet its housing targets so that people on the priority list like Maddy can find somewhere to live?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:04): I thank the Leader of the Opposition again, and I repeat for the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition: if he is in a position – as we have offered on a number of occasions in this house – to have the personal details of those like Maddy provided, we are more than willing to follow that up with local housing providers, because often the difference between the times it takes to find someone a home has many complex reasons behind it. That is why, whether it is through housing providers in regional and rural Victoria, providing them with additional support; whether it is through – and the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence may touch on some of these matters – having dedicated programs to support victims of family violence; or whether it is Aboriginal housing programs or providing additional disability support programs, we have a range of targeted supports over and above the work we do at a statewide universal level to support people like Maddy.