Wednesday, 18 March 2026

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:34): Most Victorians know that the only way to make housing more affordable is to build more homes – more homes, better homes, closer to services and jobs, and more social homes for Victorians who need them – and you could not find a better example than Labor’s Bangs Street development in Prahran. We have built 434 new homes at Bangs Street, Prahran, and over 670 homes are under construction across the Prahran precinct. These homes are all-electric, with a 5-star Green Star energy rating and a 7-star average NatHERS rating. That means they are more affordable to heat and cool all year round.

These homes are so well built that they caught the attention of social housing and sustainable design fans Their Majesties the King and Queen of Denmark during their visit to Melbourne yesterday. As the Victorian Government Architect and I walked the royals around this particular development, we were joined by another more recent convert to the cause of building quality social housing. After her brush with royalty, this social housing justice warrior was full of praise for Labor’s home-building work:

… I actually think it is great that we have things we are proud of. Bangs Street is the best social housing I have ever seen and it was great to see it profiled.

I could not agree more with the Liberal member for Prahran. His Majesty the King of Denmark described the homes at Bangs Street as ‘symbolising the journey from outdated stock to the sustainable housing of tomorrow’. That journey to deliver more and better homes to Victorians is one that could never have been started without our Big Housing Build and our Australian-first ground lease model initiative. This is the same ground lease model that the Greens and the Liberals have previously said we should ‘cease pursuing’. That is why it was so surprising to see the Liberal member for Prahran praising Labor’s new social housing, because if those opposite had their way, it would never have been built at all.