Western Victoria Region
Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (12:15): (1625) My question is to the Minister for Housing in the other place. In my travels around Western Victoria—recently Ballarat, Glenelg shire, Moyne and Colac, just to name a few—I am continuously hearing stories about housing issues, including people moving out of their home town because of housing shortages, low rental vacancies and rising median house prices. When I met with the Minister for Regional Development last sitting week she was very receptive and said that the government are aware of these problems. She asked me to provide her with any solutions to the problems, and whilst I have a few, I know the individual communities will have better solutions than me alone. So I am recommending a regional Victorian housing summit. I attended some of the state government’s rating review sessions a few years ago, which travelled around the state. It was a great opportunity for businesses, farmers and ratepayers alike to all have their say about council rates. This is a model that should be considered for the summit. Minister, will you consider rolling out an independently overseen regional housing summit that travels right across Western Victoria to fix ongoing housing issues?