Wednesday, 21 September 2022

 Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:54): (1992) My constituency question is for the Minister for Planning. Recently I was in Bright talking to locals. The number one issue raised was the housing crisis—the lack of housing for locals and for businesses chasing staff. One family I spoke to is renovating their family home to accommodate their adult children as they have no hope of finding a rental or being able to buy a home locally for many years—if ever. I have heard stories of people who have found work around Bright but who just cannot find housing living in tents. Anyone who has spent time in Bright in winter knows just how desperate a measure this is. A local business owner even told us how he spent three months living in the back of his car. The Liberal Democrats have solutions to Victoria’s housing crisis: tiny homes, granny flats, more planning resources to fast-track approvals, relaxed planning rules, higher density and abolishing stamp duty—short-term fixes and long-term real changes. Only more homes being built can change this. Without urgent changes the economies of small regional towns will be strangled. Minister, what are you doing to fix Northern Victoria’s housing crisis?