Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Ministers statements: housing

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:28): In recent days we have started to see a pretty rapid escalation in the performative and political posturing over the government’s actions to replace our ageing, deteriorating public housing towers. This posturing – apparently for likes – involved people so opposed to the delivery of more housing that they will lock themselves to machinery to stop this housing being built. They are so opposed to the delivery of housing for vulnerable people that they will oppose and obstruct it at a local government level and in the state Parliament.

Let us be very clear: these are works that are being conducted to build more homes for vulnerable people, more homes for a growing city, including an increase in social housing to take more people off the social housing waitlist. The Greens Party knows this. They knew this when they spread mistruths, claiming that towers were being demolished while people were still living in them. They have already started back-pedalling. They are now referring to predemolition works rather than demolition works, because they have known all along that the towers will only be dismantled when they are vacant. When are they going to admit that they have lied and told mistruths and apologise to residents?

What is more, Greens members routinely write to me from all jurisdictions to contact me and to discuss with me and my office to raise concerns about the conditions at the towers and about the impact of these conditions on renters’ rights to quiet enjoyment, to safety, to dignity and to privacy. Often their requests call for these renters to be transferred to another property. The same political party calling on the government to stop the towers redevelopment program is writing to me asking for renters to be relocated from the towers. They do not want the government to build more homes for vulnerable Victorians. They do not want the government to buy more homes. They do not want the government to redevelop ageing stock and they do not want the government to replace ageing stock with new homes. What do they want?