Thursday, 4 December 2025

 Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (09:45): Neighbourhood houses are often the heartbeat of small regional communities, yet as many as half of Victoria’s houses are being forced to run at a loss, propped up by volunteers and selfless staff because of a serious lack of government foresight and funding. Neighbourhood houses deliver many grassroots services ignored by this government and urgently need across the board a minimum 25 per cent boost in funding to keep their doors open and effective. My office has been besieged by houses and their supporters across my electorate, and they have given me hundreds of protest cards signed by people who turn to them for help, for connection and for community. If funding does not even cover wages, let alone operational costs, how much longer will many of these hubs survive? They are community resources and assets, from education and entertainment to something as simple as a friendly cuppa and a chat. They mean so much to so many people. I am sure there are plenty of buzzwords to wrap this message in a wellbeing resilience inclusion, but the message here is much simpler than that: neighbourhood houses are vital, and as hard as they work, their resilience can only take so much punishment before they break down. They need proper funding, and they need it now.