Tuesday, 21 February 2023

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:44): (27) My constituency question is for the minister representing the Minister for Housing. I have spoken to some residents at Park Towers public housing estate in South Melbourne, which is a special, tight-knit community, but there are some residents there feeling increasingly unsafe, neglected and ignored by the department. On Friday I met with residents who have been pushing to improve their community and have been advocating for a safe, dignified place to call home for decades. The residents were clear: things are bad. They regularly witness physical assaults, and neighbours are struggling with severe addiction and mental health crises on occasion. Dumped rubbish is frequent in common areas and they desperately need more funding for wellbeing checks, security, cleaning and maintenance. Horrifyingly, a fire last December left some in doubt that the smoke detectors in the tower were even functional. These residents’ requests are not radical. They want to live somewhere that is safe, clean and supported. Minister, will you step up maintenance, fire safety and security for the Park Towers community, or at the very least advise them why their wellbeing is not currently a priority for the government?