Tuesday, 12 November 2024

 Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (13:44): I rise today to deliver some home truths. Home truth: there are currently 61,587 households waiting for social housing in Victoria; 51,602 of these households are not current social housing renters. Of those waiting in limbo for social housing, 34,804 are priority cases. This includes households in which people are currently homeless, fleeing family violence or impacted by flooding, fires or storms. They are people who need housing now. Home truth: the average waiting time for priority social housing in Victoria is 20 months. The national average is eight months. In other words, our most vulnerable Victorians wait more than two times longer than the rest of the country for a roof over their head. Home truth: the proportion of social housing in Victoria’s total housing stock is just 2.8 per cent, the lowest in Australia. While the demand for social housing continues to grow, supply continues to fall behind. Home truth: in Melbourne median house prices sit just below $1 million and rents have surged by well over 10 per cent in the past year alone. Too many Victorians have been priced out of both the private rental market and home ownership, driving them into an ever-growing queue for social housing. Home truth: Infrastructure Australia estimates there is a shortage of 229,000 full-time infrastructure workers. That is over a quarter of a million workers. Without a capable workforce we simply cannot build the housing required to meet demand.