Thursday, 3 August 2023

Social housing

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (09:57): We will only solve this housing crisis by building more housing. During the recent break I visited a new social housing development in Brighton East, where the state government has partnered with HousingFirst and the Commonwealth government to turn 69 social housing units into 152 social housing units, more than doubling the accommodation on site, principally for those over the age of 55, including women, victim-survivors of family violence and those living with a disability. While we were there we got to meet with John and Diane, both former residents of the facility who, despite the inconvenience of having their homes demolished, have now moved back into the new facilities, and they are loving it.

They are accessible, they are energy-efficient and there is more available for more neighbours – and we are not stopping there. Victoria stands ready to do more, if only the Greens and the Liberals were not standing in the way. If the Greens really cared about fixing the housing crisis, they would support moves to increase supply instead of campaigning against them. And their pals in Canberra, with the Liberals, are still standing in the way of a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund which would build more houses, like the ones I saw in Brighton East, for decades. You can only fix the housing crisis if you build more houses.