Tuesday, 20 May 2025

Ringwood electorate

Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (12:52): (1136) My constituency question is to the Minister for Housing and Building in the other place. Minister, how many crisis accommodation beds are currently available in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs? My office continues to receive a distressing number of calls from constituents in the Ringwood electorate experiencing housing distress. These are not isolated cases; they are people who have often been on the public housing waiting list for years with no end in sight. Many are sleeping rough, fleeing violence or managing serious mental health challenges. What they all have in common is the urgent need for a safe place to stay tonight, not in six months, not in a year – now. Too often they are told there are simply no local crisis beds available or there is no money to pay for them. This is simply not good enough. These are not rare or exceptional circumstances anymore; this is fast becoming the daily reality across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. We are in a housing emergency, and the need for immediate and accessible crisis accommodation has never been more pressing. This government must act.