Housing
Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (17:43): (1190) My question is for the minister for housing. Last week Homes Victoria announced another tranche of towers slated for demolition. These seven towers, across Albert Park, Flemington, Kensington, North Melbourne, Prahran and St Kilda, are all dedicated homes for older residents aged 55 and over. A key recommendation from the parliamentary inquiry into the planned demolition of all 44 public housing towers was that the government halt all work until it provides condition reports for each building, feasibility reports into alternatives to demolition and a cost–benefit analysis for each site to demonstrate evidence that demolition is the best and only feasible option. Minister, will you release the condition reports, feasibility studies and cost–benefit analyses for each of these seven towers?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (17:44): Thank you, Dr Mansfield, for that question, and thank you for the opportunity to talk with you about the latest announcements on the high-rise towers redevelopment, which were part of a discussion last week that resulted in an announcement for the purpose of discussions with residents about the process that sits around this. From July this year we will begin the process of relocation of people who live in this latest tranche of towers. Around 70 per cent of the people living in the towers you have identified are aged 65 and above. Between July this year and February 2028 we will work really carefully with residents so that they have the information they need to make the decisions that are right for them as relocations continue. The rent settings they have in the homes to which they relocate will remain the same. Residents will have a right of return – of course where they remain eligible – to the area where we are developing the new housing. We will continue to provide them with support, including a dedicated relocations officer. Dr Mansfield, I know that your colleagues have been part of an extensive advocacy program to stop the development of the tower sites, these 39 hectares of land across inner Melbourne. I know you have joined with – by ‘you’ I do not mean you, Dr Mansfield, I mean your Greens colleagues – the coalition to vote against the development process on more than 60 occasions in the course of this particular –
Sarah Mansfield: On a point of order, President, my question was just about releasing reports and whether the government is going to release the reports. It was quite straightforward. I appreciate all the other information, but I am just hoping the minister might talk about the reports.
Harriet SHING: Thank you, Dr Mansfield. You have just said, ‘I appreciate all of the other information.’ Well, this information is necessary to counter the dis- and misinformation that has been put out there about claims that people will be evicted into homelessness, claims that people will not have a right of return, claims that people will have increased rent as a consequence, claims that people will not have protections under the Residential Tenancies Act. They are all incorrect assertions. They are scaremongering, they are fearmongering, and residents in these towers deserve better.
Anasina Gray-Barberio: On a point of order, President, can you just clarify whether the minister in her response was attacking the Greens? She is not answering what Dr Mansfield said about the report.
Harriet SHING: Dr Mansfield, I am very happy to furnish you and your colleague Ms Gray-Barberio perhaps with some further accurate information to help you to understand this process and then to share that information with communities. We will continue to rely on –
Sarah Mansfield: On a point of order, President, my question was about reports about the buildings. I understand that there is information about the process, and that is fine, but I have said nothing about a lot of the other subjects that have been raised. Even in my preamble I said nothing about any of these things. It was simply about the reports about the buildings themselves and whether they are going to be released.
Harriet SHING: Dr Mansfield, we will continue with the program to develop and to replace the high-rise towers with modern, energy-efficient, fit-for-purpose housing that is accessible and that meets the needs of residents, including those older residents. These towers cannot fit a stretcher into the lifts. These towers do not give people their own laundries. These towers do not have doorway widths that meet disability requirements. These towers do not allow people to age in place. If you think that there is – (Time expired)
Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (17:48): While I appreciate that there was some information about towers generally and the residents provided by the minister, the question was not answered about releasing the reports. If all of those issues with the towers that you have just cited exist, I am not quite sure why reports about that cannot be released. Labor wants to demolish towers that house older vulnerable Victorians, despite residents warning of the serious harm that forced relocations will cause them and despite experts stating that retaining and retrofitting towers could save hundreds of millions of dollars. Many of these residents have been living in their homes for decades. They are in their 80s or 90s, and in the middle of a housing crisis you want to move these residents away from their communities and their local supports. Can you confirm whether there is any independent evidence showing that demolition is the only viable option for each of these seven buildings?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (17:49): Thanks, Dr Mansfield. There is a fair bit in what you have just referred to there that I just want to respond to – a fair bit in your preamble. You are suggesting that the 70 per cent of people in these towers aged 65 and above should have housing that is not going to meet their needs as they age in place. You are saying that those people who call those towers home should not have access to homes that meet current standards and codes for compliance with everything from flood through to fire through to natural disaster through to natural light, ventilation and insulation. You are suggesting that these residents, who in many instances have called these towers home for decades, should have no opportunity to live in the housing that applies by the way of standards to everybody else, whether it is market, build-to-rent or indeed private ownership.
Sarah Mansfield: On a point of order, President, I did not make a single one of those claims that the minister just stated.
A member: She verballed you.
Sarah Mansfield: Yes. I asked for independent evidence. I asked about evidence and I asked about reports, not anything else that the minister has spoken to.
The PRESIDENT: I believe the minister was relevant towards the end of her contribution just then.
Harriet SHING: If you want independent evidence, Dr Mansfield, speak to the residents. Speak to those residents – more than 90 per cent of people who have moved out of Flemington and North Melbourne – about why it is that they want housing that meets their needs and provides them with dignity and pride of place. There is your independent evidence. And read the information that we have provided – (Time expired)