Wednesday, 12 November 2025

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:31): Our $1 billion Regional Housing Fund is a really fantastic example of how our government is delivering for Victoria’s rural and regional communities, particularly alongside the $5.3 billion housing package, of which $1.25 billion is also going to the regions. About one-third of the homes committed under this program are already complete or underway – that is 423 homes. That includes projects like 70 homes to support flood-affected areas in Shepparton, Seymour and Rochester, with 20 due for completion by the end of this year, and 130 homes for First Nations Victorians. Of course it is the Regional Housing Fund that is seeing the delivery of 50 social and affordable homes at Pound Road in Colac. But not everybody welcomes this project. Last week, a certain commentator in the Legislative Assembly – by the name of, well, the initial is ‘R’ and it then ends with ‘ichard Riordan’ – said that the township of Colac is in fact desperate for some more public housing homes. But this same commentator continues to oppose building these 50 much-needed homes because they have ‘no outdoor space, no car parking, no green space and are not close enough to public transport’. I think it is really probably about time that that certain commentator, also known as the Shadow Minister for Housing –

David Davis: On a point of order, President, ‘a so-called commentator’ is actually a member of the other place. She could refer to him properly by his name.

The PRESIDENT: I call on the minister to use the correct titles.

Harriet SHING: I did refer to the Shadow Minister for Housing in the other place, Mr Davis, if you would like to check Hansard.

Each home in this development is proposed to have its own outdoor private space, has one or two off-street car spaces, depending on the number of bedrooms. The development is a one-minute walk from a nearby bus stop and is also within walking distance of the local library, school, child care, South West TAFE and even the Colac Central Reserve, showing perhaps that the Shadow Minister for Housing does not in fact know his own community. I would suggest that he review his choice to refer to people in social housing as ‘concentrations of disadvantage’. Not only is that terminology revolting, but it is also true to form in terms of a number of other comments we have heard from previous coalition ministers for housing. While those on the other side oppose things, we get on with building.