Thursday, 6 February 2025

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:49): (1393) In November of last year I wrote to Minister Shing, and at the time I was representing the interests of a constituent of mine in Ringwood. That constituent had brought to my attention that there was a public house that had remained in this street in Ringwood untenanted for two years – for two whole years. I would like to be able to say that that was an isolated case, but what I am finding increasingly among our community is that local residents are reporting to me, very frequently, almost, that there are other homes that are likewise untenanted government-owned properties. I appreciate the response from the minister, and I received that response in January this year, so I would like to place on record my thanks to the minister for that response. Nonetheless, I would also like to ask the minister to reconsider her position.

The advice the minister has received from Homes Victoria is that the residence in question is due for maintenance and, to quote the letter from the minister, ‘some major works’. I think there is perhaps some discussion around that, perhaps even some debate to be had about whether that is the case and whether that advice is correct. Certainly the information I had is that that is not correct. Nonetheless I have been to the property, and I have seen the home for myself. We have a perfectly good home that may be in need of days – perhaps a couple of weeks – work, but we nonetheless have a two-bedroom home in the middle of Ringwood not 4 or 5 minutes walk from the train station, 4 or 5 minutes walk from the bus terminus, 4 or 5 minutes walk from Eastland, 4 or 5 minutes walk from health clinics, not too far at all from the hospital at Maroondah and surrounded by any number of local primary schools and secondary schools which are not too far away. It is a perfect location for the property. It is currently owned by the government. It has sat there for two years and has been allowed to be let go, to literally rot.

The minister’s decision, at least in this case, on the advice of the department is that that property should be sold, should be put up for private sale. I would, as I have already said, ask the minister to reconsider that decision, to reconsider the evidence or the information from her department that it requires major works, because that is not the information I have. I would appeal to the minister’s discretion in this matter, because we are, as we know, in a housing crisis. We have too few social homes, we have too few community homes. We have too many women who are victims of family violence and would look for a home just like this for their family, which could be rehoused in weeks. I would ask the minister to take another look with a view of not putting this up for private sale but actually using it for the public benefit.