Tuesday, 29 October 2024

 Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:30): My question is to the Premier. Experts have said that the government’s housing plan, which relies on private property developers to solve the housing crisis, would require the price of apartments to rise by at least 15 per cent. Premier, why does the government’s plan to tackle housing affordability require the cost of apartments to go up?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:30): I can tell the member for Prahran that it does not – it absolutely does not. Indeed there is no better place in the nation to be a first home buyer than right here in Victoria, and it is getting better. I know I am not allowed to anticipate debate, but there is a little something we announced last week – it was not a little something, it was a big something – and it is going to support first home buyers. It is going to support homebuyers and home builders to be able to purchase an apartment, a unit or a townhouse with the support we announced last Monday. That is in the Parliament today, and I hope the Greens political party are going to use this as an opportunity to get on board and not be the blockers that the Liberal party are – to not be the blockers, to not follow the lead of the member for Brighton and be another blocker. That has got us to this point, where too many young Victorians cannot afford to buy a home, their first home, to be able to start a family and build their long-term wealth like older generations have had the opportunity to.

That is why the work that we are doing is not just focused on how we can get more apartments and units and townhouses built, particularly around activity centres in great locations close to public transport services and great local infrastructure. For example, in Brighton we have upgraded the local primary schools and kinders. There is that place in Camberwell where we have also upgraded the local schools. The Lilydale line is level crossing free. This is exactly the sort of location –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition, I ask you to cease interjecting while there is a member on their feet.

Jacinta ALLAN: Oh, well, the blockers never rest. I have got a message for the blockers: we will work harder every single day for those younger Victorians who need their government fighting for them so they can build their long-term wealth by getting into their home. That is what we are focused on. We are focused on doing it in the inner suburbs, the middle suburbs, the outer suburbs and those great parts of regional Victoria, because part of our plan is to give Victorians choice about finding a home where they want to live. It might be close to where they grew up. It might be close to the job that they want. It might be close to transport services and schools. We are builders, not blockers. I hope the Greens political party can show the colours of their wares and show that they will support the bill that is in the Parliament today to get on and support the building of more apartments, units and townhouses here in Victoria.

 Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:33): We all know it has been years of government inaction that has got us to this point in the housing crisis. The only way the government can actually guarantee that the new homes will be built –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I cannot hear the question.

Sam HIBBINS: The only way the government can guarantee that the new homes will actually be built and that they will be affordable is if the government steps in and builds more homes itself, like governments have done in the past. Given the clear problems with relying on property developer profits to solve the housing crisis, will the government now adopt the Greens’ plans for a public builder to massively increase the number of genuinely affordable public homes for renters and first home buyers?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I did not hear the question. I ask the member for Prahran to repeat the last part of his question.

Sam HIBBINS: Will the government now adopt the Greens’ plan for a public builder, as they have many times in the past, to massively increase the number of genuinely affordable public homes for renters and first home buyers?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Laverton can leave the chamber for half an hour. The member for Frankston can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Members for Laverton and Frankston withdrew from chamber.

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:35): We have a public builder. It is called Homes Victoria, and it is out there building and completing 10,000 homes right now. It is doing that right now, supporting the homes that vulnerable Victorians need when they need the government to build a roof over their heads. We know the member for Hawthorn has stood on the back of a ute in Bills Street opposing those homes in Hawthorn. We know that the Greens political party, particularly the member for Richmond when she was parading around the City of Yarra, are also fond of blocking social and affordable homes in their community. I say to the Greens political party and I say to the Liberal political party: you go on and try and block; we are going to try and get on and build. We are going to try and get on and build, particularly through our Big Housing Build – $6.3 billion of investment. Last Friday we announced for regional Victoria another 1000 homes that are going to be built in regional Victoria by this government.