Tuesday, 17 March 2026

 Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:43): (1268) My question is to the minister for housing. Minister, Somali Community Inc has been operating from the Flemington public housing estate for decades, providing a lifeline and a gateway for African refugee families through pathways connected to jobs, education and housing. Now, during the holy month of Ramadan, this organisation faces eviction, and this is despite repeated requests for help to the Premier, the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Homes Victoria and your own office with no resolution. Minister, will you intervene to prevent the eviction of Somali Community Inc and support them to find a suitable location so that they can continue their important work in supporting residents in Flemington?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:44): Thank you very much for that question, Ms Gray-Barberio, and I want to at the outset acknowledge the many organisations that work so hard to provide support to communities who call the towers home and the people who are part of the broader networks of multicultural and multifaith organisations. These organisations provide the most amazing support, outreach services and engagement, contact and opportunity to people, and they do that not because of the towers themselves but despite the conditions in which they work. This is where we have worked really, really closely with communities across a range of settings to make sure that we understand what their needs are and have a bespoke response to the challenges that they face as we redevelop the towers. But again, the alternative in developing the towers is to leave the existing buildings there and require organisations like the Somali community organisation to work in really, really substandard conditions. I am sure that even the Greens would not want that to be the case into the long term, so I have confirmed a grants program to assist community organisations with relocation processes.

This is about making sure that we replicate that engagement that has been happening across broader towers developments as that work goes on. This is really about a person-centred and community-centred approach to towers redevelopments. Across the towers that I have visited since the most recent announcements at the end of January, the key things that have come across as themes relate to connection to community. Whether that is the North Melbourne Language and Learning centre, which we helped to relocate to new premises, or the continuation of programs including Foodbank and community gardens programs, we are determined to make sure that we understand what it is that communities and residents want to continue. Whether they are in the areas to which they move in and around the existing tower sites or to areas further afield, this is –

Anasina Gray-Barberio: On a point of order, President, I am thrilled to hear that the minister is determined to ensure that these community organisations are going to be looked after, but my question was: will the minister help prevent the eviction of this community and help them to find a suitable location so that they can continue their essential work?

The PRESIDENT: I believe the minister is being relevant to the question.

Harriet SHING: Ms Gray-Barberio, you do not seem very thrilled, and that is a shame because we are delivering a range of supports to community organisations.

Anasina Gray-Barberio interjected.

Harriet SHING: Ms Gray-Barberio, you either want to hear the answer or you do not. I will confirm to you that we are providing grants programs and supports to community organisations. We have done that across a range of other organisations and programs to date.

Anasina Gray-Barberio interjected.

Harriet SHING: We will continue to do that, and we will not be doing that because you stood up and made a pious set of statements. We will be doing that because it is the right thing to do in a person-centred approach, in a community-centred approach and in an approach which is about long-term responsible opportunities for people to thrive.

 Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:47): Organisations like Somali Community Inc foster and strengthen social cohesion. Plenty of multicultural communities are expected to foster social cohesion, and yet I am hearing, Minister, that you are not even interested – you really are not. What specific steps have you taken to ensure trusted multicultural community organisations are not displaced and that the social cohesion they provide to these communities is not lost?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:48): I will tell you what I am not interested in, Ms Gray-Barberio, and that is the cheap politicisation of issues relating to large-scale change as we embark upon a multidecade process to ensure that housing which is no longer fit for purpose is developed and delivered for people who deserve homes that are modern, that are energy efficient and that are connected to communities and connected to services. I will continue to engage with organisations, with groups and with households who are providing their input into the things most important to them. I will continue to provide support, including through Homes Victoria, who have been engaging with this organisation and with many other organisations, to understand what it is that they need and what it is that they want. The supports that are provided will vary from organisation to organisation, and despite all of your platitudes, Ms Gray-Barberio, we will continue to do this work with outcomes that are geared toward real-world consequences and not your performative garbage.