Thursday, 19 March 2026

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (19:04): This evening there were nine matters under the adjournment, which is a very small number, comparatively speaking. It is almost as though everyone on the opposition benches has decided that they need to head off to see what is happening in Nepean. But following the referral of these matters to the relevant ministers for their written responses, I do want to take the opportunity to respond to one matter raised by Mr Galea, as it relates to the housing portfolio and indeed to the work that is happening in Bangs Street in Prahran and the work that we are doing to deliver more affordable housing across the state and in particular in our built-up urban environments to provide the sort of housing that people want and need that is within walking distance of public transport, schools, hospitals, people’s jobs and of course the beautiful open spaces that characterise our city.

As Mr Galea rightly noted, one of the examples of really wonderful social housing is at Bangs Street in Prahran. This is something which the Liberal member for Prahran in the other place has also extolled the virtues of in a number of public comments she has made about the importance of investing in good new housing. Across the Bangs Street, Prahran, area we have built 434 new homes, and over 670 homes are under construction across the Prahran precinct. Mr Galea asked about the importance of these homes as they relate to sustainability and to the delivery of housing which is bright, modern, energy-efficient, fit for purpose, warm in winter, cool in summer and accessible so, amongst other things, people can age in place. These homes are all-electric and they have a 5-star green energy rating and a 7-star average NatHERS rating. This also means that people are saving money. It is cheaper to live in a home that is well appointed and fitted out in a way that means that people are not spending large amounts of money on heating and cooling.

These homes, as the member for Prahran in the other place has rightly noted, are so well built and they are such wonderful examples of sustainability that Their Majesties the King and Queen of Denmark came to Prahran to join me and the Victorian government architect on a walk around the precinct. Almene boliger, which is ‘public housing’ in Denmark, is a really significant set of opportunities for the Danish government to deliver on sustainability and provide opportunities for people to access minimum standards as they relate to the type of housing, the way in which building materials are managed, adaptive reuse and the sort of work that goes into delivering housing that is modern and fit for purpose. We also know that in managing mixed communities we need to deliver the sort of housing that does not confine people in one type of housing to one part of a community without having an opportunity to live in communities, whether that is build-to-rent, private market or social housing. It was wonderful to be able to show the king and the queen around this part of the precinct and also see the sort of work that has gone into delivering these brand new homes, which will be available to people on the housing register to call their own. His Majesty the King actually described these homes as symbolising the journey from outdated stock to the sustainable housing of tomorrow.

We were able to see the outdated high-rise towers immediately around this area and compare and contrast them with the new housing which is being delivered in the same communities so that people can exercise that right of return, can come back to the neighbourhood that they were relocated from if they wish, or otherwise that housing will be provided to people on the housing register. The member for Prahran was obviously effusive about this. We did cross paths with her unexpectedly during this visit when she was standing in front of the public housing. Indeed we look forward to her ongoing and vocal support for the sort of social housing that is being developed and delivered and her vocal support for the redevelopment of these towers across Melbourne. These 39 hectares of land across Melbourne that have these outdated high-rise towers on them are a really good opportunity, as the member for Prahran has indicated, to replace old and outdated housing with brand new housing stock. It is a wonderful thing that we have seen a departure from the Liberal position of opposing the development of these towers, with the member for Prahran’s welcoming of this work that will provide better density, better opportunity and better housing with some of the finest social housing that she has seen and indeed that we are producing to the envy of many parts of Australia to address the shortfall in housing and provide modern options for people to have housing that they can be proud to call their own.

Mr Galea, thank you very much for your advocacy in this space. Thank you to everybody who is part of making sure that as we deliver between 16,000 and 17,000 new social housing homes across the state, including in partnership with the Albanese government, we are doing so in a way that plans for the future, that provides people and their children with opportunities to build community with housing and that not only enables this sort of work to connect as communities and families but celebrates the sort of quality housing that people all around Victoria deserve access to now and into the future.