Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (14:45): (1321) My constituency question is for the Minister for Housing and Building, and my question is: why does Gippsland have fewer social housing properties today than it did eight years ago? In East Gippsland, Wellington and Latrobe there are currently 3785 social housing residences. Back in 2017 there were 3792. That is a reduction of seven homes over eight years despite strong population growth. These are the department’s own figures. Despite all the talk and spin we hear daily about Labor’s so-called Big Housing Build our social housing numbers are going backwards. Adding to the crisis, median rents have increased by 6 per cent in regional Victoria in the last 12 months alone. There are now more than 60,000 Victorians on the social housing waitlist, up 7.4 per cent since last year. The valley is locked up by coal overlays that should be reviewed and removed to allow construction of up to 2000 homes in the south-east of Traralgon, but the government refuses to act.